{"id":559942,"date":"2026-08-05T16:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/559942\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T16:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:58:08","slug":"forgotten-spaceman-afghan-story-readies-for-takeoff-film-trailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/559942\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Forgotten Spaceman,’ Afghan Story, Readies for Takeoff: Film Trailer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn 1988, Abdul Ahad Momand became the first, and only, Afghan cosmonaut in space and made Pashto the fourth language ever spoken beyond Earth. And his space adventure became a fleeting moment of hope just as Afghanistan descended into civil war, forcing millions of his countrymen and countrywomen into exile.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The memory of the space voyage has since been overshadowed by narratives of conflict, war and diaspora.\u00a0London-based Afghan filmmaker and actor Elham Ehsas<\/a> (There Will Come Soft Rains, Yellow, Our Kind of Love) is now bringing the world a cinematic reminder of the space adventure in the context of his country\u2019s history in the short film Forgotten Spaceman, which will world premiere on Aug. 9 in the Pardi di Domani \u2013 Concorso Internazionale short and medium-length selection of the\u00a079th edition<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Locarno\u00a0Film Festival<\/a>. <\/p>\n

After that, the film will screen in the Toronto International<\/a> Film Festival\u2019s Short Cuts program, organizers unveiled on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\n\tBlending documentary and essayistic elements, Forgotten Spaceman \u201cplayfully 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,\u201d notes a synopsis.\u00a0And the filmmaker uses a surprising connection to the cosmonaut to explore their shared experience of exile. <\/p>\n

Written, directed and edited by Ehsas, Forgotten Spaceman is executive produced by Catherine Tschaepe and Jack Thomas-O\u2019Brien of Ken Loach<\/a>\u2019s Sixteen Films, which backed the film. The film is produced by Lorraine Bhattachary of MonoFilm Productions. World sales and festivals are handled by Mar\u00eda Vera of Kino Rebelde.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I first learned that an Afghan had been to space, I didn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Ehsas says in a director\u2019s statement. \u201cAfghanistan\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA trailer for the film is now available, and THR can exclusively premiere it below. So, fasten your \u2013 whatever seatbelts for spacecraft are called \u2013 and get ready to discover what the Locarno website describes as \u201ca film about diaspora, home and the stars.\u201d You may even want to make yourself a cup of Afghan tea, which the country\u2019s sole man in space brewed during a visit to the Mir space station for his crew.<\/p>\n

\n\tJust don\u2019t miss your chance to explore the world of Forgotten Spaceman. The countdown is on. 3, 2, 1\u2026 trailer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1988, Abdul Ahad Momand became the first, and only, Afghan cosmonaut in space and made Pashto the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,1019,259493,6235,409,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-559942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-international","tag-locarno-2026","tag-locarno-film-festival","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}