Introduction

Featuring unseen footage and exclusive interviews, this dramatic film tells the inside story of the largest airlift in modern U.S. history, marking the end of America’s longest war.

Outline

Escape From Kabul tells the inside story of the 18 monumental days in August 2021 when the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent evacuation of thousands of Afghan citizens from Kabul airport after the Taliban seized the city. This feature-length documentary examines the largest airlift in US modern history, which, despite the chaos and suffering, evacuated 124,000 people.

The film combines never-before-seen, on-the-ground archival footage from the evacuation alongside exclusive interviews with evacuees, eye-witnesses, US Marines and Taliban fighters. This includes dramatic testimony from Afghan citizens attempting to flee. They recount their struggle to reach the airport, which was their last hope of leaving the country before the widely-feared Taliban took control.

Escape From Kabul Airport also hears from the specialist unit of US Marines tasked with managing the evacuation, whose plans are shattered when Taliban forces take the city at lightning speed. They speak openly for the first time of their hand-to-hand battle to reclaim the overwhelmed airfield whilst a humanitarian catastrophe unfolded around them. Taliban commanders and fighters who had recently taken the city describe how they encircled the airport perimeter and faced US forces.

The shocking unseen footage shows the ordeal Afghan citizens faced waiting to get through the gates of the airport, spending days on end in the Kabul heat without access to food or water. As the crowds grew increasingly desperate to leave, a tragic sequence of events unfolded, including a devastating suicide bomb attack that the Islamic State group said that it had carried out, killing 13 US military personnel and more than 170 Afghan civilians. Exclusive footage sourced from Taliban fighters shows these final hours of the two-trillion dollar US campaign in Afghanistan.

Production & Filming Details

• Narrator(s):
• Director(s):
  • Jamie Roberts.
• Producer(s):
  • Nancy Abraham … executive producer.
  • Lisa Heller … executive producer.
  • Dan Reed … executive producer.
  • Jaime Roberts … producer.
• Writer(s):
• Music:
• Cinematography:
• Editor(s):
• Production:
• Distributor:
  • BBC Two.
• Release Date: 21 September 2022 (UK).
• Rating: Unknown.
• Running Time: 75 minutes.
• Country: UK.
• Language: English.

Video Link(s)