52 minutes / Color
Closed Captioned
Release: 2015
Copyright: 2014
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with what it called a "limited contingent" of troops. It was the start of the final conflict of the Cold War, one that would last 10 years, play a key role in the collapse of the USSR, and provide the platform from which Osama bin Laden would launch Al Qaeda.
AFGHANISTAN 1979: THE WAR THAT CHANGED THE WORLD focuses on these events from the side of the invading Soviets. The film features former leader Mikhail Gorbachev, speaking publicly on the invasion for the first time, as well as Afghan, Russian, and American generals, journalists, intelligence analysts, and resistance leaders.
Drawing on these interviews and on previously secret Soviet archival material (including the single hand-written page of the official decision to intervene in Afghanistan), the film offers a privileged reading of contemporary history, and an expanded understanding of the seemingly intractable situation in the region.
"An excellent documentary very much suited to university-level classroom use. That it has a focus on the Soviet-Afghan side [makes it] particularly valuable for students more likely to have encountered U.S. perspectives." —Journal of Slavic Military Studies
"Captivating; documents a conflict that resonates in all of today's hot wars." —Telerama
"How was the military intervention that upset the balance in the Middle East, Central Asia and beyond launched and conducted? Why did the KGB involve the USSR in this hazardous operation while the Politburo and Brezhnev opposed it? Who had an interest in shattering the East-West reconciliation? Did the Soviets fall into an American trap? How did this war became a crucible for Islamic terrorism? This film answers these questions and many others using unpublished archive of declassified secret documents and testimony from former officers of the KGB, CIA, Red Army, Afghan resistance and even Gorbachev, who here discusses the subject for the first time." —Sens Critique
"Highly recommended! Captivating and timely… A must see for anyone interested in the blunders and miscalculations of both Soviet and American leaders that produced the terror-infested world in which we now live." —Educational Media Reviews Online
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