Afghan female filmmakers, who fled the Taliban, from Afghanistan, are begging the world to not forget the Afghan people and to support its artists.
The women spoke at a panel discussion at the 'Venice Film Festival' to warn that a country without culture will eventually lose its identity.
Sahraa Karimi, the first female president of the 'Afghan Film Organisation', choked up in telling reporters all that had been lost after the Taliban completed their takeover of the country.
She cited that numerous films in pre-and-post production, filmmaking workshops and the insurance policies that had been all grounded to a halt along with the film archives, are now in the hands of the Taliban.
"Imagine a country without artists and a country without filmmakers. How can they defend its identity?" she asked during the panel discussion of the film festival.