To kneel or to run away? This is the desperate reality that gripped the people of Kabul in August 2021, as the Taliban seized control and the world watched the rapid, chaotic withdrawal of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Now, Filipino audiences can plunge into the heart of this harrowing period with Kabul, a gripping six-part French and English-language thriller series, streaming on Lionsgate Play starting June 20, 2025.
More than just a historical reenactment, Kabul is a journey into the human stories behind the headlines. Against the backdrop of the Taliban’s takeover on August 15, 2021, the series dives into multi-narratives. Viewers follow the Nazany family, desperately fighting for survival as they become direct targets of the Taliban. Their struggle to escape the city, with each member facing impossible choices, paints a picture of personal devastation amid geopolitical crisis.
Created by Olivier Demangel, Thomas Finkielkraut, and Joé Lavy, and directed by Kasia Adamik and Olga Chajdas, Kabul also shines a light on the frantic, high-stakes efforts of European diplomats and security personnel. As panic escalates and the airport transforms into a desperate bottleneck, these dedicated individuals – a French diplomat, a German soldier, and an Italian attaché – race against time to evacuate their citizens and vulnerable Afghan allies, all while navigating rising tensions and the looming threat of attacks.
This blood-pumping series draws its powerful inspiration from real events and a deeply personal connection. Co-producer Fabienne Servan-Schreiber was directly involved in the effort to evacuate Afghan artists and doctors during the tumultuous summer of 2021. Her tireless work, sending emails and raising funds to buy plane tickets, made an impact on her son and fellow producer, Matthias Weber, who had the idea to bring these stories to the screen.
The cast reads like a global passport: Shervin Alenabi, Jonathan Zaccaï, Eric Dane, Vassilis Koukalani, Jeanne Goursaud, Gianmarco Saurino, Valentina Cervi, and more bring fierce authenticity to every frame. From tense embassy corridors to wrenching family separations, Kabul goes beyond the headlines to tell a deeply human story of courage, loss, and impossible choices. It’s raw. It’s gritty. It’s real. And it’s a series you won’t just watch but you’ll feel.
Talking about the series, lead actress Jeanne Goursaud said, “In the beginning of the series, you see that they have a normal life, they have their family life, they eat, they talk, they are already afraid of what’s going to happen, but these are things that can happen to anybody. These are stories that, even in our time today, I think are so sad. Everybody can be a victim, and I think this is why we need to take each other’s hands and help each other, and this is so important. This is what we’re talking about in the series as well.”
She continued, saying, “I think that with everything that’s happening in the world right now it’s important to tell these kinds of stories and to show what it is to be human to have empathy, and in Afghanistan, as women, you’re not allowed to do anything anymore. Not even singing in the street or going to the gym or talking in the street. This is incredibly sad.”
Thomas Finkielkraut, co-creator of Kabul, spoke about the experience of developing the series, “It’s true that as an author it’s quite extraordinary to have such recent elements, that are still fresh in our minds, to have only just lived it and you’re already writing it as fiction. It was a good challenge because that’s also the power of fiction, to take us away from everything that we see on the news, to place images in our collective memories. It’s the power of fiction and it’s why we decided to talk about the exile of an Afghan family to create empathy towards these people.”
Don’t miss this unforgettable deep dive into a moment that changed the world. Kabul premieres June 20, 2025, only on Lionsgate Play.
