Mohd Qais Shaghasy

Afghanistan, 2016. Sikandar and Shab are final-year art students at Kabul University, both with a thirst for life. Amidst the ruins of war-torn Kabul, the couple and their friends spot an abandoned cinema, which miraculously survived 30 years of war. As an act of resistance against the looming return of fundamentalism, a bold dream is enacted and renovation work on the cinema begins. Serious problems soon arise: the withdrawal of powerful family support, the targeting of Shab by her extremist brother, an auto accident and a calamitous fire. Undaunted, Sikandar continues to pursue the dream.