‘The Last Ambassador': An Afghan Diplomat Without a Country
'The Last Ambassador,' a new documentary screened at Vienna's Filmcasino in the city's 5th district on July 1, offered a moving portrait of Manizha Bakhtari, Afghanistan's ambassador to Austria, who continues to serve her people despite no longer representing a recognized government.
Organized by the Maltese delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to mark the International Day of Women in Diplomacy, the event brought together diplomats, civil society leaders, and human rights advocates to reflect on the cost of silence, and the power of principled resistance.
Directed by Austrian filmmaker Natalie Halla, 'The Last Ambassador' was filmed over three and a half years, blending observational footage, interviews, and personal archives to chronicle Bakhtari's resistance from exile.
'I have dedicated my whole life to Afghanistan and its people,' Bakhtari says in the film, a statement that defines not only her career but also her personal sacrifices after Afghanistan's political collapse.
Since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, Afghanistan has ceased to function as a democratic state. The Islamic Emirate of Taliban remains unrecognized by the international community yet governs with totalitarian control, particularly over women. While many diplomats resigned or were dismissed, Bakhtari chose another path.
She remains ambassador to Austria, not representing the Taliban, but defending the Afghan people. 'I do not represent a government, but I represent my people,' she declared.
In her virtual post-screening remarks from Canada, Bakhtari echoed the film's themes: diplomacy, she argued, demands moral courage as much as protocol. 'Is diplomacy only about maneuvering within formal structures, or can it also be about raising our voices when justice is denied?'
Her stance challenges traditional diplomacy, suggesting advocacy and moral clarity may matter more than allegiance to any state.
Gender Apartheid and a Nation in Collapse
Under Taliban rule, Bakhtari described Afghanistan as a humanitarian catastrophe, especially for women and girls. 'Girls are systematically denied the right to education. Women are erased from public life,' she said. 'A deliberate system of gender apartheid is in place.'
Since 2021, the Taliban have barred girls from secondary school and university, excluded women from work, and restricted their movement without a male guardian, violating international treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which Afghanistan ratified in 2003.
'This is not a slogan,' Bakhtari stressed. 'Gender equality is a fundamental element of human rights.'
Alongside the Afghan diaspora, she supports a global campaign to recognize 'gender apartheid' as a crime under international law. Codifying the term, she argued, would validate Afghan women's experiences and enable accountability.
'Language matters. A legal framework matters,' she told the audience. 'Without it, how can we hold regimes like the Taliban accountable?'
The Cost of Engagement
Bakhtari warned against international normalization of the Taliban, in remarks that came mere days before Russia announced it was officially recognizing the regime. While some argue for limited engagement to deliver aid, she rejects the approach.
'Engaging with the Taliban does not help the people of Afghanistan,' she said. 'For four years, the United Nations and many countries have tried to include them. But they do not listen, and they do not change.'
She urged organizations to avoid legitimizing the Taliban through invitations to negotiations, warning that unconditional engagement emboldens repression.
Among the regime's most alarming policies is the gutting of formal education. Bakhtari cited data showing 6,813 madrassas (Islamic seminaries) and 5,000 private religious schools operating nationwide. While not opposed to religious education, she stressed it cannot replace formal schooling.
'For four years, our girls have not been going to school. That affects this generation and the next,' she said. 'We are educating another generation of extremists.'
She called for international support for underground and online schools to prepare Afghan girls for a future beyond Taliban rule.
A New Kind of Diplomacy
Over the past four years, Bakhtari has redefined diplomacy, leading campaigns, speaking at global forums, and confronting institutional complacency. Yet she insists this is not activism replacing diplomacy, but diplomacy reimagined.
'My intention was and is to uphold diplomatic norms while remaining firm in my demands,' she said. 'Our hard-fought gains are at risk of being reversed. We must explore new tools and new approaches within diplomacy.'
In her vision, diplomacy is not compromise, it is the defense of values. And values, she said, must endure even when governments fall.
While the film focuses on Bakhtari's public role, it also reveals personal moments, her wedding, memories of her late father, a celebrated Afghan poet who died in Los Angeles. These scenes root her identity not just in politics but in a profound connection to her homeland.
The documentary ends with a haunting sequence: Bakhtari standing at the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border, gazing across the river at her country. It is as close as she can get, a moment of exile and longing, visibly moving. Here, the emotional weight of her role becomes undeniable: so near to home, yet unable to return.
'The Last Ambassador' is more than a documentary. It is a statement of resistance, and a call to action. It showcases a woman who stripped of her official mandate, refuses to surrender her voice.
'We must uphold the principles we have established over centuries, regardless of the wishes of a few politicians who may think otherwise,' Bakhtari concluded.
Her story is one of a diplomat turned advocate, a patriot in exile, a woman who cannot go home but will not look away.
As the audience left Vienna's Filmcasino, one truth was clear: Manizha Bakhtari may no longer represent a state, but she represents a nation of women fighting to be seen, heard, and educated. And as long as that fight continues, her diplomacy, bold, moral, and unyielding, belongs on the world stage.
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