Love City Jalalabad
In 1964, when Bob Dylan released “The Times They Are a-Changin’”, the song helped start a youth revolution. 50 years later, the youth of Jalalabad, Afghanistan have had enough gloom and doom and want to use their creativity to bring freedom and joy. Their first step is to rename Jalalabad to Love City by parading a billboard through the streets, proclaiming it a place of love and no more war.
This is the beginning of an amazingly joyous ride, as the group attempts to take their Cinema Circus to the notoriously militant Tora Bora mountains. Along the way, a 19 year old actor becomes the first female director of a Pashtun film; a 9 year old girl, Medina, becomes a movie star and a young actor tries to use his art to convince the family of the girl he loves, to agree to their wedding. Regularly the group encounters the forces of darkness, corruption and ignorance, but their optimism sees them safely through.
LOVE CITY, JALALABAD is a feelgood movie which will reaffirm your hope for Afghanistan and that love can succeed where war fails.
Technical Specifications
Year 2013
Length 98 min
Director George Gittoes
Producer Torstein Grude
Languages Pashto, English
Production companies Piraya Film. Co-production: Gittoes Productions and Unicorn Films
Production countries Norway, Australia
Sales/Distribution International Sales: Kudos Family. Festival Distribution: The Norwegian Film Institute
World Premiere Sydney Film Festival, Jun 7, 2013,
World Premiere, Director’s Cut Mar 21, 2014, EuroDok, Oslo
IMDB https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3004140/
Awards
The Norwegian Short Film Festival, Grimstad, 2014, Honourable Mention, Norwegian Documentary Competition
Amanda Award 2014 nominee, Best Norwegian Documentary
Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival, New York, 2015, Winner, Best Documentary and Winner, Most Socially Aware Film
Festivals
2013
Sydney Film Festival
Bergen International Film Festival
2014
EuroDok, Oslo
The Norwegian Short Film Festival
Kapittel, Stavanger
2015
Winter Film Indie Film Festival
