Afghan-American filmmaker Sonia Nassery Cole says the future of a free Afghanistan depends on the rights of women being strengthened.
"Women's rights have been so violated in my country [it] is beyond comprehension and I truly believe that Afghanistan will be free when the women of Afghanistan are free," Cole told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
Story continues below video.
"That's 50 percent of the population that is silenced and there's some incredible minds there."
Cole, who produced, directed and starred in the movie "The Black Tulip" — about a Kabul family opening a restaurant after the fall of the Taliban regime — says Muslims have been smeared by the Taliban.
"To me Taliban are not Muslims at all because everything they do is the antithesis of the Koran," Cole said.
"There [are millions of] peaceful Muslims in the world and then there is this parasite called Taliban that is not even half of a half of a percentage that has hijacked the religion," she said.
"I don't understand why the Islamic world doesn't join the Western world and Israel to denounce the Taliban as [not] Muslims."
"The Black Tulip" was Afghanistan's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.
See the Steve Malzberg Show on Newsmax TV each weekday live by Clicking Here Now
You can listen to the Steve Malzberg Show each weekday live from 3-6 PM ET on SiriusXM 244
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.