When artifacts are taken during times of crisis, who has the right to hold them?
THE THEFT
a film by Aisha Jamal
Produced by Ed Barreveld, Storyline Entertainment
Trailer
Starting April 19, The Theft
will be available on TVO Docs YouTube channel, website and Smart TV app.
The broadcast begins at 9pm ET on TVO.
Repeat broadcast screening April 23
PRESS RELEASE
Set against the fractured backdrop of Afghanistan, TVO Original The Theft, is a stunning feature documentary by Aisha Jamal, that traces the journey of a series of 12th century marble panels looted from Ghazni, Afghanistan over decades of war and political upheaval. Today, many of those panels sit inside major Western museums, removed from the communities and the cultural landscape that gave them meaning.
At the centre of the story is Toronto-based Afghan historian Jawan Shir Rasikh, recently appointed Director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit in Kabul. Living between Canada and Afghanistan, Rasikh represents a generation navigating exile and return. As he travels across heritage sites and damaged museums, he reflects on what cultural stewardship looks like under Taliban rule and whether Afghanistan’s history can survive yet another period of erasure.
The film also features Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, former Director of the National Museum of Afghanistan, who has risked his life for decades to safeguard the country’s artifacts through looting, bombings and regime change.
In Toronto, Canadian-Pakistani artist Sameer Farooq, known for his Restitution Series, turns a critical lens on the museum itself. As he prepares for a solo exhibition in Halifax, he questions what an ethical museum could be, one grounded in accountability and repair rather than possession.
By connecting voices across Afghanistan and Canada, The Theft places Afghanistan firmly within the global restitution debate. While international headlines track returns of works to Nigeria, Benin, India and Cambodia, Afghanistan is rarely included in that conversation. Jamal’s film closes that gap and situates the country within broader discussions of postcolonial responsibility.
“This film is personal,” says director Aisha Jamal. “Afghanistan is almost always framed through war and extremism. Those realities exist, but they are not the whole story. Afghanistan also has a profound artistic and cultural history. The Theft asks audiences to look at museums differently and to question how these objects arrived there in the first place.”
Toronto-based Afghan-Canadian filmmaker Jamal premiered her debut feature A Kandahar Away (2019) at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where it later was broadcast on CBC and the documentary Channel. In addition to her filmmaking career, Jamal is a respected programmer at Hot Docs, deeply engaged in shaping contemporary documentary culture. Her previous work includes the award-winning shorts The Long Way Home (2017) and Seeds of the Past (2016). She also co-directed, co-produced, and co-wrote the documentary web series How We Die, which reimagines cultural approaches to death and dying. The Theft is her second feature.
Produced by Emmy award-winning producer Ed Barreveld for Storyline Entertainment, The Theft premieres on April 19 on TVO Docs YouTube channel, website and Smart TV app. The world broadcast premiere begins at 9pm ET on TVO ( with a repeat on April 23).
Produced by 10006262786 ONTARIO INC. for STORYLINE ENTERTAINMENT in association with TVO with the participation of CANADA MEDIA FUND, ROGERS DOCUMENTARY FUND, ROGERS TELEFUND, CANADIAN FILM OR VIDEO TAX CREDITS and ONTARIO MEDIA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION written with the participation of CANADIAN INDEPENDENT SCREEN FUND FOR BPOC CREATORS.