The Network

This is the story of the first independent television network, TOLO TV, in one of the most unstable and dangerous places on earth, Afghanistan. In 2002, Kabul was emerging from five years of Taliban terror. Under the Taliban, all forms of media except the state-run radio station had been outlawed. Wanting to help rebuild their country, the Mohseni family returns from exile in Australia, passionate about giving the Afghan people a voice that had been taken away from them for so long. They knew nothing about the media, but they knew how to run a successful business. The result is Afghanistan’s largest and most successful television network employing over 800 Afghans producing news, current affairs, drama, comedy, music and lifestyle programs.

This was not and is not an easy process. Expats are brought in to teach the Afghans the myriad details of running a television network and find themselves, in spite of the serious dangers, enamored of the Afghans; their optimism and how, really, they just want the same basic things we do. Women, despite cultural and familial pressures, risk their lives and reputations to work alongside the men at TOLO TV. You’ll find yourself completely taken in by this most unlikely subject, fascinated by the unusual challenges faced by the upstart television network. Finally, it’s a chance to see Afghanistan and its people as something other than a war-torn nation.