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Extraordinary lives: Afghan women filmmakers

Written by Ruth Collins
Thursday, 26 March 2009 00:00

“Afghanistan” is synonymous with war, former suppression under the Taliban and tragic conflict. This image, however, fails to present a vivid picture of the ordinary lives in Afghanistan and, in particular, fails to represent the lives of the women who live there today. Celebrating talented female directors around the globe, the recent Bird’s Eye View Film Festival at the Institute of Contemporary Arts has enabled several films featuring this lesser-known Afghanistan to come to light.

The evening entitled Risky Business: Afghan Women Filmmakers screened three very different films and presented an insightful post-show discussion to draw together a somewhat unsettling, yet illuminating, picture of real life for women in present-day Afghanistan. In Western society, women are still subject to discrimination both in the home and workplace; however, the issues documented in these films make concerns surrounding glass ceilings seem ludicrously trivial by comparison. What they really bring to the forefront is that women there are still struggling to have the right to continue with their education, to choose their own career paths and even the right to work at all. As Half Value Life directed by Alka Sadat and A Girl from Kabul directed by Shakiba Adil both affirm, having a career in what are traditionally male-dominated fields is now a real possibility, but only at a cost.

 

Sadat’s documentary is an inspirational portrayal of Mariya Bashir, the one and only female prosecutor in Herat in northwest Afghanistan. The fortitude required for her career choice would be impressive in any country given the harrowing circumstances that she is forced to witness. Through documenting experiences of Bashir’s working life, Sadat exposes one of the country’s most grave and tragic social problems: men selling off their prepubescent daughters, sisters and cousins to other men who will ultimately hit them and burn their arms with cigarette ends – and yet continue to deny all charges. Her occupation is all the more remarkable when you consider that she is working in what is an otherwise exclusively male-dominated environment subject to laws imposed by men while attempting to work against the discrimination and the mental and physical abuse which face women in her society. Bashir comments in the film that she has received death threats in letters and even text messages and has already survived one attack on her life to date. These threats stem from the prejudices inherent in Afghan society concerning women in the workplace and the fact that her working environment, in particular, is certainly no place for females. Even her children cannot have the same freedom that other children in the country have for fear that they might also be attacked.

Although equally showing that Afghan women can have a career, Adil’s documentary about news camerawoman Parwin demonstrates that career and marriage cannot always go hand in hand. In contrast to Bashir who balances a more traditional domestic life with work, Parwin is convinced that marriage would mean the end of her career. As a single woman living with her married brother and sister-in-law, she faces prejudice from society firstly for being single and secondly for having a career in what is considered a traditionally masculine environment – a catch-22 situation if there ever was one. The film highlights the quandary facing women there when they try to step outside the traditional role of the homemaker and have an unconventional career. Whether married or single, even the most liberal of Afghan men will be hesitant to let their wives work in certain fields given society’s prejudices. In the post-show discussion, Zarghuna Kargar, former presenter of the BBC’s “Afghan Woman’s Hour”, commented that there are many women and their relatives who have been subject to abuse and even killed simply because the women have worked in spheres such as television and other media, which are deemed both religiously and socially unsuitable.

The subject matter of A Day in the Life of Rahela, directed by Dil Afruz Zeerak, contrasts sharply with the other two films in that it depicts not the life of a career woman, but the more traditional lifestyle of Rahela, a woman forced to endure the hardships imposed by the impoverished rural areas in and around Kabul. Unlike the other two films, it is not documentary style and Rahela is oblivious to the camera. This, in turn, brings a sense of intimacy with this woman who continues to go on with her arduous daily life with not so much as a small complaint. Although this film does not focus on the rights of Afghan women in such an obvious way as the other works, by presenting a raw and vivid picture of the lifestyle which is indicative of the large proportion of Afghan society, the film draws attention to the strong female figures who hold together the household – and indeed society in this war-ravaged and troubled country – despite still not having anywhere near the same rights enjoyed by their male counterparts.

In Western culture, phrases such as “empowerment of women” are often derided as feminist nonsense by men and women alike. Yet, when this concept is applied to countries such as Afghanistan, it becomes apparent that the “empowerment of women” in these communities has deeper resonances which speak truly of much-needed change. Each film at once speaks both of an individual and a collective struggle for equality and one thing that is conveyed so clearly and poignantly in all three works is that women in Afghanistan are still fighting for the right to a better quality of life. The fact that all three are directed by Afghan women with no formally-trained background in filmmaking makes the works seem all the more impressive. It is their visceral frankness which makes each film so compelling and inspirational.

As one of the post-show panellists Bahareh Hosseini indicates, amid the media grapple to film coverage of the war and its impact upon the country, it is “real people’s stories which get lost in all the chaos.” Therefore, with the aim of capturing the stories of such individuals, she directed and produced Afghan Girls Can Kick, which documents the experiences of young Afghan girls playing football for their country and the prejudices and hostility they face. Hosseini comments that, although the film is about female football players, “Sport wasn’t the focus; it was more to see how the girls are using sport to gain self-confidence and self-esteem and changing the mentality of society and the idea of what Afghan women can be.” Although Hosseini is originally from Iran, through a shared language and an understanding of a neighbouring country’s culture, she was able to gain a rare insight into the lives and experiences of these girls.

Fellow panellist Havana Marking has also experienced this effort to change the way society considers women when making her film Afghan Star, named after and on the subject of Afghanistan’s very own version of “Pop Idol”. Although the female participants have been chastised as prostitutes and hailed with abuse, Marking comments that the number of female applicants has risen markedly since the programme’s inception. It is clear that, even if society is still a long way away from accepting that women can perform and sing on a stage, at least the belief and perseverance of certain individuals is making a small but significant difference to perceptions of women in the country. Afghan Girls Can Kick received its world premiere last November in Amsterdam at the International Documentary Film Festival and will feature at a host of other festivals this year. Although, as with all the other films mentioned, in order to protect the female protagonists, sadly under no circumstances will this film be shown in Afghanistan in the near future.

In terms of all these films and the issues they present, the lasting impression is not simply that we are moved by the conditions which these women are forced to live under or the prejudices to which they are exposed – although these are of monumental importance and deeply tragic. On the contrary, as Hosseini herself suggests, what is perhaps most intriguing and inspiring about all these films is that they give a glimpse of some extremely strong and brave women in Afghanistan “who are pushing the boundaries, who are not just passive victims and who are trying to bring change.” The films ultimately pay tribute to their female Afghan protagonists, all of whom project an image of strength which seeks to overcome society’s prejudices.

Half Value Life (Dir. Alka Sadat), A Girl from Kabul (Dir. Shakiba Adil) and A Day in the Life of Rahela (Dir. Dil Afruz Zeerak), appeared at the ICA on 12th March 2009 as part of the Bird’s Eye Vie Film Festival

Afghan Star (Dir. Havana Marking) appeared at the ICA on 21st March 2009 as part of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival

Afghan Girls Can Kick (Dir. Bahareh Hosseini) appeared in Amsterdam in November 2008 at the International Documentary Film Festival