HOLLYWOODGATE

by Ibrahim Nash’at

SYNOPSIS

When the United States withdrew from its twenty-year “forever war” in Afghanistan, the Taliban retook control of the ravaged country and immediately found an American base loaded with weaponry—a portion of the over $7 billion in U.S. armaments still in the country. Unprecedented and audacious, director Ibrahim Nash’at’s HOLLYWOODGATE spends a year inside Afghanistan following the Taliban as they take possession of the cache America left behind—and transform from a fundamentalist militia into a heavily armed military regime.

DETAILS

91 mins

2023

Germany, USA

Pashto, Dari, English

CLIP

CREDITS

Produced by Rolling Narratives in association with Jouzour Film Production, Cottage M, Raefilm Studios

Directed by Ibrahim Nash’at

Produced by Talal Derki, Odessa Rae, Shane Boris

Co-produced by Ibrahim Nash’at

Edited by Atanas Georgiev, Marion Tuor

Executive Producers: Mehmet Elbanna, Sahraa Karimi, Diane Becker, Katherine Embiricos, Jim Swartz, Susan Swartz, Melony Lewis, Adam Lewis

Music by Volker Bertelmann

Sound Design by Frank Kruse

Co-Executive Producers:
Geralyn White Dreyfous, Poppy Jaimie, Heba Khaled, Steven Cohen, Paula Froehle, Hussain Currimbhoy

Written by Ibrahim Nash’at, Talal Derki, Shane Boris

Director of Photography: Ibrahim Nash’at

Production Sound: Ibrahim Nash’at

BIOGRAPHY

DIRECTOR - IBRAHIM NASH'AT

Ibrahim Nash’at (born June 17, 1990 in Jeddah) is an Egyptian documentary filmmaker based in Berlin, Germany. His career in journalism spans various formats, working with several international channels and online platforms such as Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, Business Insider, AJ+, Voice of America and others. Ibrahim holds a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from Met Film School. He co-edited Academy Award-nominated director Talal Derki’s latest film UNDER THE SKY OF DAMASCUS which premiered at Panorama - Berlinale 2023 and won the Golden Alexander at 25th Thessaloniki Doc Festival. Ibrahim has directed A MOMENT WITH THE WIND, HOME AWAY FROM HOME and BERLIN'S DIVERSITY, short films that were selected for multiple film festivals around the world. HOLLYWOODGATE is Ibrahim’s first feature film.

SELECT FESTIVALS

VENICE 2023〡TELLURIDE 2023〡IDFA 2023〡ZURICH FILM FESTIVAL 2023〡WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL 2023〡POFF TALLINN 2023〡HOT SPRINGS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2023〡ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL 2023〡CPH:DOX 2024〡THESSALONIKI 2024

PRESS

"An extraordinary, chilling glimpse into the void that is Taliban rule. At hair-raising personal peril, director Ibrahim Nash'at gains access to high-ranking Taliban insiders to deliver a terrifying eyewitness account of the takeover of a former US military base in Kabul"
- Variety

“This is what access journalism should be. And what access. "
- Indiewire

"’Hollywoodgate throws us in the deep end and compels us to swim."
- Rollingstone