The land without a face

Terrible things go on in Afghanistan - everyone knows it. So why is Mohsen Makhmalbaf one of the few film-makers to tackle the subject? Below, the director talks to Geoffrey Macnab; bottom, an extract from his Afghan memoir.

Go wild in the country

A farmer hanging from a tree, a burnt-out car, anti-fur protesters... Elisabeth Mahoney is intrigued by John Goto's satires on the rural idyll.