Baktash Ahadi: Retrograde - A Documentary Film of the American Withdrawal from Afghanistan

My guest today is Baktash Ahadi.

Baktash is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, speaker, facilitator, and human rights activist.

Baktash is a returning guest and if you have not yet listened to my first conversation with him, I highly recommend taking time to listen to Episode 84, where Baktash shared pieces of his and his family’s story of escaping Afghanistan as refugees when he was just a baby, getting resettled as a young boy in Carlisle Pennsylvania, and how that journey has impacted his life.

I asked Baktash if he would come back to talk specifically about the film, Retrograde, of which he is an Executive Producer.  Retrograde tells the story of the American withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021.  Sponsored by National Geographic, what started with the intention of telling the story of the American Green Berets who served in Afghanistan, pivoted in May of 2021, when President Biden announced the withdraw of American troops, which built up to the major withdrawal and the takeover of the Afghan government by the Taliban on August 15, 2021.

From Wikipedia: “Retrograde is a 2022 American documentary film that covers events that took place during the final nine months of the United States' 20-year war in Afghanistan. The film includes actions taken by the last American Special Forces units stationed there, Sami Sadat, a young Afghan general and his troops defending their country, and a chaotic exodus of its civilians, desperate to flee a country that will once again be controlled by the Taliban.”

The footage that was captured in the making of this film is incredible, to say the least.  As I watched, I often was wondering, “how did they get this footage?”  So, that is among many other aspects that Baktash tells us about today.

We also talk about what we as individuals can do today to make a positive difference in the continued story of Afghan refugees and Veterans of the war.  

Retrograde is available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.  It is produced by Matthew Heineman and Caitlin McNally. 

More of Baktash’s work can be found at baktashahadi.org.

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