Vahur Laiapea (born 1960) is an Estonian filmmaker, camera operator and producer, who has created over thirty documentary films. Many of them were born far from the land he calls home – in Crimea, the Ukrainian conflict zone, Abkhazia, Siberia, Mongolia, Ghana, Canada, Latvia, and other places. His films are characterised by a very intimate and trusting relationship with the viewer. He has made three documentaries of material filmed in Afghanistan during the period of 2010-2017. The creation of the documentary film Imprisoned and Free, centered on former Soviet soldiers who have converted to Islam, led to the filmmaker’s kidnapping by the Taliban and imprisonment in the Kabul Pre-trial detention facility. He has written about this experience in his book Prisoner of Afghanistan.