04 Aug 2022
Award-winning factual producer Brook Lapping, part of Zinc Media, has been commissioned by BBC Two to tell the behind-the-scenes story of what many see as modern history’s biggest foreign policy misstep.
Afghanistan: Getting Out (2 x 60 min), builds on Brook Lapping’s reputation as the go-to producer of forensic documentaries on seismic contemporary events, such as Emmy-nominated The Search for Gaddafi’s Billions, co-produced with ZDF and Arte in association with Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion; Cuba: Castro vs the World, co-produced with Temps Noir, ARTE France and the BBC; and Trump Takes On The World, co-produced with Les Films D’ici, ARTE France and the BBC.
This two-part film documents the 20-year challenge of how Western Allies tried to withdraw from Afghanistan, culminating in the disastrous events of August 2021. In Brook Lapping’s trademark style, only those who were in the room when the key decisions were taken will tell the story.
Greg Sanderson, Executive Producer, Brook Lapping, says: “As the news cycle moves on to the next international incident, it is all-too-easy for momentous events, such as those seen in Kabul last year, to fade quickly from public consciousness. As filmmakers we have the opportunity to reflect back, and as the dust settles, help to establish what happened and why.
“With access to all the key players, this film aims to unpick the West’s failings, which many think helped open the door to Russia and its invasion of Ukraine and a period of great uncertainty on the international stage. The scale and ambition of this film exemplifies what Brook Lapping does best and we are confident it will have just as much global impact as the other landmark films we have made.”
Afghanistan: Getting Out has been pre-sold to Histoire TV (France), VPRO (Netherlands), SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway), DR (Denmark) and YLE (Finland). The series is distributed internationally by BBC Studios Distribution.
Afghanistan: Getting Out was commissioned for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer by Gian Quaglieni. It is Executive Produced by Greg Sanderson for Brook Lapping at Zinc Media and Series Produced and Directed by Jack MacInnes.