Panel discussion

Alka Sadat, Roya Sadat, Betty Schiel, Elisa Jochum Roya Film House (RFH) was founded in 2003 to shine a light on the plight of women in Afghanistan with feature films, documentaries and TV series. It was the first woman-run and woman-oriented film company to be established in Afghanistan.

Throughout the years, RFH helped transform Afghan society's perception of women working in cinema and inspired a new generation of Afghan women to enter filmmaking, television, journalism and the arts. The Taliban's return to power in 2021 abruptly halted all independent initiatives. Women-led businesses were closed and filmmaking became virtually impossible inside the country. The RFH team was forced into exile.

Much of the company's archive and equipment remained in Kabul, making production and the preservation of its work extraordinarily difficult. Despite these challenges, RFH continues its mission internationally – and makes connections with women's networks worldwide, including Internationales Frauen Film Fest Dortmund+Köln (International Women's Film Festival Dortmund/Cologne, IFFF).

This panel discussion introduces the RFH's projects and their strategies for artistic resilience, cultural resistance and the enduring belief that cinema can preserve history, challenge injustice and give voice to those who refuse to be silenced. This presentation is a cooperation between Roya Film House (RFH), Internationales Frauen Film Fest Dortmund+Köln (IFFF) and the Deutsche Kinemathek/Film Restored Festival.

Elisa Jochum is a film scholar and cultural historian with a doctorate in the field. Since 2022, she has been head of the film archive at the Deutsche Kinemathek, including overseeing the archive's distribution and programming work.