Country
Afghanistan, UKYear
2026Length
16'
Category
FictionPremiere
Italian
Screenplay
Elham EhsasEditing
Elham EhsasMusic
CJ MirraSound
Rob Szeliga, John CohenProduction
Lorraine Bhattachary (Mono Films) Elham Ehsas (Foreigner Films)Distribution
María Vera (KINO REBELDE)Synopsis
In 1988, Afghanistan sent its first and only astronaut, Abdul Ahad Momand, into space. From orbit, he called his mother, making Pashto the fourth language ever spoken beyond Earth. Momand’s story became a fleeting moment of hope as the country beneath him collapsed and millions of Afghans were pushed into exile.
This film playfully links a historical event and a familiar common feeling: the experience of diaspora, the shadows of colonialism, and the memory of a fractured and silenced nation.
Biography
Elham Ehsas (born 1990 in Kabul) is a filmmaker, playwright, and theater director based in London. His short film Yellow was nominated for a BAFTA and shortlisted for an Oscar in 2024, while his debut feature Our Kind of Love is currently in development as a feature film with the BFI. His short film There Will Come Soft Rains (2025) won the Best Film award at the Raindance and Encounters film festivals. His latest short film, Forgotten Spaceman (2026), premiered in the “Pardi di Domani” section at the Locarno Film Festival.
Statement
When I first learned that an Afghan had been to space, I didn’t believe it. Afghanistan’s stories are always told through war, so discovering that in 1988 Abdul Ahad Momand was orbiting Earth was a shock.
What surprised me most was how easily his story disappeared, and how much colonialism has damaged our collective memory, leaving little room for stories that do not fit the narrative of destruction.
While researching Momand decades later, I came across a photograph that reshaped the film: my father, then a journalist in Kabul, interviewing him after his return from space. Soon after, both men would be forced into exile, carrying their belief in Afghanistan with them.
I built this film from archival fragments, personal memory, and Afghan music to recover a lost history.
This is a film about how nations forget and how their exiled children remember.
— Elham Ehsas
Archival materials
Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), Elham Ehsas / Azana Films, Wikimedia Commons, Footage Farm / National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) Creative Commons, NASA Creative Commons, Google Earth / Filmmaker on his screen, New York Times / Creative License, Karim Shah – with permission.
