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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Afghan Actor Refugee
HEADLINE:'The Kite Runner' Actor a Two-Time Refugee
TEASER: Ali Danish Bakhtyari, who fled Afghanistan in the 1990s, is again a refugee, having fled the Taliban in 2021
PUBLISHED AT:
BYLINE: Keith Kocinski
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: New York, NY
VIDEOGRAPHER: Keith Kocinski
PRODUCER: Keith Kocinski
EDITORS: Igor Tsikhanenka, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA, AP, PARAMOUNT, ALI DANISH BAKHTYARI
VOA PLATFORMS:
TRT: 3:03
VID APPROVED BY:
TYPE: TV
UPDATE:
ED NOTES: HFR till the morning of Monday, November 21
((INTRO))
[[The Afghan actor Ali Danish Bakhtyari, who played the role of an orphan in the 2007 film "The Kite Runner,” has fled the Taliban rule in his home country twice: first in the late 1990s, and then in 2021, when the United States withdrew its forces from Afghanistan. Keith Kocinski has the story from New York.]]
[[NAT SOUND FROM KITE RUNNER: "What happened to the boy? The Taliban took him."]]
((NARRATOR))
((Mandatory CG: The Kite Runner/Paramount & Dreamworks))
At 10 years old, Ali Danish Bakhtyari played the role of Sohrab in the 2007 film "The Kite Runner."
((ALI DANISH BAKHTYARI: PERSONAL PHOTOS TAKEN ON SET OF KITE RUNNER))
In the film, Sohrab, an orphan, endures horrific abuses, his parents murdered by the Taliban. For Afghan-born actors like Bakhtyari, the Taliban are far from fiction. His real family fled the Taliban rule in Afghanistan when he was a child in the late 1990s.
((Ali Danish Bakhtyari, Actor and College Student)) ((English))
“I was one of nine children of my parents.
[[NAT SOUND OF EXPLOSIONS]]
((REUTERS VIDEO: SHOTS OF US TROOPS AND TALIBAN))
((ALI DANISH BAKHTYARI: PERSONAL PHOTOS TAKEN ON SET OF KITE RUNNER))
((Mandatory CG: The Kite Runner/Paramount & Dreamworks))
((NARRATOR))
After the Taliban were ousted by a NATO-led coalition in 2001, Ali’s family returned home, a move that led to his role in "The Kite Runner," which provided an unflinching portrayal of Taliban rule.
((AP VIDEO : CHAOS AT KARZAI AIRPORT))
But in August 2021, American troops withdrew from Afghanistan, and Bakhtyari had to run for his life again.
((Ali Danish Bakhtyari, Actor and College Student)) ((English))
“We were hearing on the news that each province was being seized by Taliban day after day. We never thought Kabul would fall that quick.”
((ALI DANISH BAKHTYARI: PERSONAL PHOTOS TAKEN ON SET OF KITE RUNNER) )
((VOA VIDEO : SHOTS OF BAKHTYARI ON CAMPUS))
((NARRATOR))
Fearing retaliation from the Taliban because of his work on The Kite Runner, Bakhtyari decided to use his U.S. connections and reached out to a Paramount Pictures producer, pleading for help.
((Ali Danish Bakhtyari, Actor and College Student))((English))
“I was personally thinking that the Taliban would come and arrest me and persecute me or even kill me."
((AP VIDEO : CHAOS AT KARZAI AIRPORT)) –
((NARRATOR))
Bakhtyari says Paramount arranged transportation and helped his family get to Hamid Karzai Airport amid the chaos,
((ALI DANISH BAKHTYARI: PERSONAL PHOTOS TAKEN AT KARZAI AIRPORT) )
including a fellow Kite Runner actor, through a secret entrance and onto a plane.
((Ali Danish Bakhtyari, Actor and College Student)) ((English))
“Living under the fear is one side of the equation, and the other side, you know, is not having any hope.”
((NARRATOR))
((UNHCR: REFUGEES IN TENTS))
And for many Afghans, that hope is dwindling.
((REUTERS VIDEO : PEOPLE RUNNING IN AFGHANISTAN))
In 2021, more than 1 and a quarter million [1,268,730] Afghan refugees fled the country; according to the U.N.
((Chris Ankersen, NYU Center for Global Affairs))
“I think things will get worse before they get better."
((AP VIDEO : REFUGEES AND IDPS IN AFGHANISTAN))
((NARRATOR))
Experts say without attention from the West, the sense of quiet desperation has escalated for those who remain in Afghanistan and those who sought refuge in neighboring countries.
((Chris Ankersen, NYU Center for Global Affairs))
“The attention that Afghanistan once commanded is completely gone. Nobody sees it on their radar. You don’t hear it being mentioned at the G-20. You don’t see it mentioned in reelection campaigns.”
((VOA VIDEO: ALI ON CAMPUS AT COLUMBIA))
((NARRATOR))
But Bakhtyari, now 26, still has hope for the future of his homeland.
((Ali Danish Bakhtyari, Actor and College Student)) ((English))
"Afghanistan's government will become prosperous again. Democracy will dominate the country once again. It’s not going to be that long.”
((VOA VIDEO: ALI ON CAMPUS AT COLUMBIA))
((NARRATOR))
In the meantime, Bakhtyari, a recipient of a scholarship for displaced students at Columbia University in New York, pursues a master's degree in civil engineering, hoping someday to help the people of Afghanistan. Keith Kocinski for VOA News, New York.
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)New York
Embargo DateNovember 22, 2022 14:53 EST
BylineKeith Kocinski
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America, Voice of America - English
