IMPORTANT: Out of an abundance of caution, the Embassy has decided to postpone this event.

FREE ADMISSION

SECURITY RULES: Each person attending the event must have a ticket registered in their name and a government-issued ID that matches the name on the reservation in order to enter the Embassy.

No need to print your ticket, but no one will be admitted without reservation and proper ID.

Due to strict security measures, please arrive on time, doors will be closed at 7 p.m. sharp. Please allow extra time for security screening.

Limited street parking available on Reservoir Road. We encourage you to use taxi, ridesharing or public transportation.

The Swallows of Kabul / Les Hirondelles de Kaboul

By Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec

2019 - France/Switzerland/Luxembourg - 81 min.

As part of the D.C. Francophonie Cultural Festival 2020, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy present the screening of The Swallows of Kabul.

The Swallow of Kabul follows the story of two couples during the Summer 1998. In 1998, Kabul in ruins is occupied by the Taliban. Mohsen (voiced by Swann Arlaud) and Zunaira (voiced by Zita Hanrot) are still young and in love. They remain hopeful that they will once again be able to live as they choose in their beloved country. In contrast, the despair-filled prison warden Atiq and his terminally-ill wife Mussarat live as if they are already dead. They have been married for many years and are hardly ever talking to each other. A foolish act of Mohsen will tip the fate of his couple into tragedy. .

Graphically rich, 2D watercolor-style animation The Swallows Of Kabul provides an involving adaptation of the Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra’s literary fiction. The movie is a moving testimony of life under Taliban control in the Afghan capital, highlighting a dangerous act of humanity during a violent time via the stories of those two couples whose fates become intertwined through death, imprisonment and self-sacrifice.

The Swallows of Kabul was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and won the best film award at the 2019 Angoulême Francophone Film Festival. The film was also nominated at the Annecy’s International Film Festival of Animated Movies in 2019.

In French with English subtitles.