From Massoud to Massoud: Fighting the Taliban

This film is primarily a smell. An indescribable scent that marks you forever. The smell of war, of death. The smell of impossible peace. Constructed as an investigation, the film is a double testimony, that of the executioner and that of the victim, presenting the turning point in the history of a country, a region, several peoples that are at the center of all conflicts in the Middle East. The film tells the story of 5 days in September 1982, which itself sums up a century of conflict. In one place, Beirut. An investigation based on the testimonies of all the protagonists, victims, executioners, accomplices and witnesses.

French current affair show

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 sent the world into a state of shock. Yet some had been loudly and publicly warning of the dangers posed by terrorism. Ahmad Shah Massoud, an Afghan Mujahideen commander, was among them.

At the end of World War II, the Allies handed over two million Russian, Ukrainian and Baltic nationals to the Soviets. The agreement between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin was not disclosed until the “repatriated” were shipped to labor camps in Siberia during the great Stalinist purges. How does history judge these leaders, and how did their decisions shape present-day Europe and Asia?

On September 9, 2001, Commander Massoud, a hero of the Afghan resistance, was assassinated by two members of al-Qaeda posing as journalists. Two days later, the terrorist organization struck the United States. However, a few months earlier, during a visit to France, Commander Massoud had come to warn the West about the disastrous plans of al-Qaeda and the rise of the Taliban. He asked the West to exert pressure on Pakistan, a country that supplied arms, supported and sheltered the Taliban, but which was also a major buyer of French arms. He was not listened to.