AINA is a French-based NGO based in Kabul dedicated to developing an independent Afghan media. The word "Aina" means mirror, which expresses the goal of the overall project.
AINA efforts train Afghani journalists and provide classes to learn camera skills and script writing.
AINA also produces Afghani-made films. One of the films is a documentary entitled "Afghanistan Unveiled," which was made by thirteen Afghan women, including Jamila Emami and Gul Makai Rangbar. It premiered July 16, 2003 at a luncheon at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC. The National Geographic Society then provided AINA a grant of $50,000 to fund a children's magazine.
Another project in Afghanistan run by AINA and funded by the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration, Britain's Department for International Development and the European Commission, involves mobile cinemas. In five-month periods in both 2002 and 2003, eight mobile cinemas tavelled Afghanistan, bringing educational films to nearly a million people across the country. It is estimated that in 2002, the program reached 450,000 people in six weeks. Under the direction of coordinator Nicolas Delloye, the 2003 goal was to reach twice that. To reach the goal, eight mobile cinema teams were to spend five months roaming Afghanistan, reaching 1,000 villages. The three 30-minute education films involved ("Our School" by Ahad Zhwand, "The Afghan Cultural Heritage" by Waheed Ramaqh, and "The Voice of the Heart" by Mirwais Rekab) were made under Afghan Films.
AINA estimates that less that 20% of Afghanis have ever seen a film before. Films and most other forms of entertainment were banned under the Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001. Furthermore, less that 10% of Afghanistan's population has access to electricity.
