Afghanistan’s national film-making organization, Afghan Film, resumed operations on Sunday under the rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) with a screening of two documentaries.

The documentaries, The Salang Highway and the Company Bridge, were both produced by Afghan Film and are in line with the IEA’s regulations.

The director of Afghan Film Mawlavi Shafiullah Afghan said Sunday that the screening of the two documentaries were a celebration of cinema in Afghanistan being preserved.

He also said that future films will document the 20 years of war in Afghanistan, which will be a “bitter visual history” of the country.

“Cinema is influential in every sector of society, and more in the spiritual sector. We plan to work on films and serials, and women will work with us,” said the director of Afghan Film.

Afghan Film officials also confirmed that the organization is now operating under the leadership of the IEA, within the framework of Islam.

Atiqullah Azizi, Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Information meanwhile said the media and cinema play an important role in the establishment of an Islamic military.

“We keep Afghan films active and make films about the work and the severity of 20 years of destruction, and those who left Afghanistan and gave a bad image to the world, we tell them we will continue our work,” he said.

“During the jihad, we used two powers: the military and the videos, which show us the position of the cinema and are called influential parts for governments,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, deputy director of publications at the Ministry of Information and Culture.

One guest attending the screening, Noor Ahmed, said: “Cinema is influential in every sector of society, and more in the spiritual sector, we plan to work in films and series, and women will work with us.”

“I had never been to the cinema before and now is the first time we have come and we want the cinema to produce more in terms of understanding and literature,” said another participant, Ahmedullah.

Afghan Film officials say they are also working on films and series that show Afghan culture and traditions.