in 1973 king zahir shah's _ correct? that's right. yeah. in 1973 king zahir shah's was _ correct? was in _ correct? that's right. yeah. in 1973 king zahir shah's was in over- correct? that's right. yeah. in 1973 king zahir shah's was in over him l correct? that's right. yeah. in 1973| king zahir shah's was in over him in a bloodless coup. he declared afghanistan a the public and himself the first president. he rode the tiger of his times, balancing big investments from the americans against those of the soviet union. i was part of that low key generation, the first who would reap the rewards of all the hard work. we were and vicious skills. we had the idea is to be lawyers, to be doctors, to transform our country. ——we were ambitious girls. we could not have known how very quickly the best of times could become the worst. in 1978, a group of soviet army officers overthrew daoud khan. it became a generation of war and invasion, the war we are still living today. my my parents were worried for our future. my sisters and i dressed in all burqas and plastic shoes. we managed to catch

zahir shah saw his country as at the heart of a modern asia.he visiting president of turkey, celal bayar, in 1958. zahir shah cautiously opened up state and society. he reformed the army. he promoted afghan national independence day, known as thejeshn. it's hard to imagine now, but then kabul had money in the bank. $100 million. zahir shah decided to place his investment strategically into the south of afghanistan, where the river helmand cuts through an immense desert. dr farouq azam was adviser in the afghan ministry for power and energy. zahir shah hired the best foreign engineers with state—of—the—art equipment from a company called morrison knudsen. everyone called it mk. explosion and that's how our film—maker, glen foster, came to be there. he was an engineer with morrison knudsen. mk drove roads through the desert and canals through the sand. it built three collossal dams at lightning speed. foster and mehtabuddin went out to film each stage of the project in detail, from the grand opening of the dams to the narrowest canals spreading a

zahir shah saw his country as at the heart of a modern asia.t of turkey, celal bayar, in 1958. zahir shah cautiously opened up state and society. he reformed the army. he promoted afghan national independence day, known as thejeshn. i took the camera myself, i put it up on someone's shoulder and shot. i rememberthis it up on someone's shoulder and shot. i remember this clearly. translation: i went out filming. you can see the parade. the schoolchildren marched first, then came the sportsman. ifilmed it all. it's hard to imagine now, but then kabul had money in the bank. $100 million. zahir shah decided to place his investment strategically into the south of afghanistan, where the river helmand cuts through an immense desert. dr farouq azam was adviser in the afghan ministry for power and energy. translation: he saw a vast and wild deserts and so much flowing water. he thought there was great potential for farming in this wasteland. it was totally empty! he realised that the water could be put to work. zahir shah hired the best foreign engineers