Besides great artistic work and remarkable screenings the people that are involved in this event make the Afghan Film Festival unique and extraordinary. We proudly present a diverse program and a venue for directors and producers as well as visitors from Cologne and from all over the world.
THE BEAUTY ACADEMY OF KABUL
A group of American Hairdressers head to Afghanistan to open the country`s first post-Taliban beauty school.What happens when a group of hairdressers from America travel to Kabul with the intention of telling Afghan woman how to do hair? This unique development project, funded in part by beauty-industry main stays (Vogue, Clairol), sets out to teach the latest cutting, coloring, and permitting techniques to practicing and aspiring hairdressers and beauticians in an intense three-month curriculum.The teachers are all volunteers – three from the US and three Afghan-Americans returning home fort he first time in over 20 years. THE BEAUTY ACADEMY OF KABUL documents the poignant and often humorous process through which women with very differnt experiences of life come to learn about one another.
AFGHAN GIRLS CAN KICK
Under the Taliban, the freedom of women in Afghanistan was almost entirely curbed. For five long years, they went through life veiled, preferably indoors, excluded from education and, of course, sports. Now that fundamentalists are no longer in power, some women are seizing their chance to do what they couldn't before. The women of the national soccer team play with covered arms and legs (and when the camera's rolling, with headscarves). Because of security, no other international team has ever come to play them in Afghanistan, and NATO's women soldiers are no match.
But then the national team gets invited to participate in a tournament at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad. For the soccer players, it's the first time that they will play a full-fledged game on a real soccer field. Afghan Girls Can Kick follows the players during practice and games, zooming in on the circumstances of the individual team members. Growing up under the repression of the Taliban regime, the girls are still living with daily danger and insecurity, but they are ambitious and hopeful about the future.
VOICE OF THE MOON
This short poetic take on Afghanistan in the late eighties was made by the young Richard Stanley before he went on to make Hardware and Dust Devil and the debacle from which he was removed, The Island of Dr Moreau. It is perhaps his best work, as he captures numerous images unusual not because of the way Stanley shoots them, but because he seems to have the patience to hang around in Afghanistan long enough to comprehend the texture and complexity of a country that is much more than a metonym for war. In fact in one amusing scene he shows the advantages of weaponry, as the fish are blasted out of the water by explosives. In another moment he shows the opposite: old fashioned canons that look as if they’re almost as dangerous to the users as to the victims.With a varied score by Simon Boswell Stanley gives us a film that gives us poetry instead of prose, images instead of facts, and does much to dilute the drip, drip effect of Afghanistan as no more than a war zone in the eyes of people outside of it.
THE BOY WHO PLAYS ON THE BUDDHAS OF BAMIYAN
The main character in this feature film is an eight-year-old boy called Mir Hussain. He is fun, cheeky, inquisitive, energetic and bright. He also lives in a cave and owns virtually nothing - though to him this is normal; it is all he's known.
The film is about Mir’s life through three seasons: Summer, Winter, Spring. In post-Taliban Afghanistan, though much has changed and is changing, there is no guarantee that Mir will survive life in a cave - the sickness, dirt, dust, lack of water and lack of food. Yet his engaging story is not one of gloom and doom but that of a normal child who takes life as it comes and finds entertainment wherever he can. His playground is the rubble and tunnels of the destroyed Buddhas of Bamiyan, the shelled and burnt-out town bazaar, the orchard of the local militia. Through his eyes we see the destruction of the town, the ever-present militarization and the welcomed but watched presence of the Americans. Mir has no clue what it is all about but he knows how to have fun.
OPIUM WAR
In Siddiq Barmak’s ambitious follow-up to Osama, two American soldiers are stranded after their helicopter crashes in enemy territory in Afghanistan. The soldiers are constantly at odds but must rely on each other to survive. As they cross poppy fields, they lick the poppy essence to bury the pain and anguish of battle. Along the way, they encounter a local family that lives in the shell of a Soviet tank and grows opium to survive. The family, full of wacky characters, is also constantly at each other’s throats. Opium War combines realism with tangents of absurdism and a cast of nonprofessional actors. The dialogue broaches the presence of the U.S. in Afghanistan and the need for large numbers of Afghan families to produce opium in order to earn a living. Adding significantly to the film are the memorable compositions created by cinematographer Georgi Dzulaiev and the score by Daler Nazarov, which consists of traditional Afghan themes.
RABIA BALKHI
Also from the archive the festival gives a rare outing to Rabia Balkhi, Afghanistan’s first feature film made in 1965, which tells the story of the first and only queen of Afghanistan. The screening on 10 May will be attended by Abdullah and Seema Shadaan, co-stars of Rabia Balkhi, who met and fell in love on set.
Among the reels was the country's first feature film, Rabia Balkhi, which told the true story of the eponymous first and only queen of Afghanistan, who wrote Sufi poetry infused with erotic allegories, fell passionately in love with a court slave and was murdered by her jealous brother.
Rabia Balkhi became a sensation upon release in 1965 and was shown countless times in theatres and on television. But by 1996 it exemplified everything the Taliban feared and detested: a lavish historical epic with an enchanting queenly figure at its centre who could be seen, most dangerously, as the embodiment of the sexually liberated, politically emboldened woman. Fuelling the Taliban's ire, the role was played by the sultry Afghan actress Seema, clad in sumptuous, tightly tailored costumes, who was cast opposite Abdullah Shadaan, also the director of the film. The pair met and fell in love on set, marrying soon after. (They now work for the Pushto section of the BBC World Service in London).
TARE TU, PUDE MAN ( COMMON LIFE)
This film is about the burka, the traditional Afghan dress for women. How is it made, who wears it and what do people think of it? The film tries to reflect women’s various and conflicting ideas about the burka.
UP TO THE PARLIAMENT
Up to the Parliament is the name of a documentary which is made about three independent women's lives and their political campaigns to enter the new Afghan parliament in three different provinces of Afghanistan.
This movie known as only document which is analyzing and was recording the events of must important new Afghan parliament election. The movie has a lot of special shows in different countries.
Up To the Parliament supported by FES of German country.
The persons how have role in this movie are Ms. Sohaila Alkozai, Fozya Warkzai and Zarmina Zare. Sohaila Alkozai lives in the capital, Kabul she is the owner of a building firm, which builds schools in Afghanistan. When she comes back from Germany she starts her struggle against the warlords. Fozya Wazakzai lives in Balkh province in the north of Afghanistan with her children. She works as a lawyer in Independent Human Rights Commission, which helps and advices women. She is the first woman lawyer in north of country. Zarmina Zare lives in the remote Faryab province, which is under the control of warlords, her husband was killed by Taliban 9 years earlier, but she is trying to build a decent life for herself and for her children. She is campaigning in different parts of the province but the people are heavily influenced by warlords' propaganda. In the end all of the three candidates don't win their campaign for election to the new parliament.
KABULI KID
Kabul - a city struggling to recover from 25 years of warfare. Taxi driver Khaled picks up a woman and baby. Her face is hidden behind a blue burka. They settle on a price, she pays him and they drive off. The taxi arrives at its destination. The woman gets out and a new passenger climbs in... to find the baby still in the backseat. Khaled leaps out after the woman but she's vanished. He's left holding the baby - a 6-month-old boy. Who is the mother? How can he find her? He asks friends and strangers in the street. He returns to where he picked her up. Nothing. Fate has handed him a young life for which he feels more and more responsible. An eventful, chaotic, often highly comic journey through a city which is itself simply trying to survive. Poignant, rich, vibrant, Barmak Akram's debut feature is a remarkable portrait of one man's emotional awakening in a city returning to crazy life after 25 years of violent conflict. "CENTRO DO BRAZIL in Afghanistan.
AFGHAN STAR
After 30 years of war and Taliban-rule, pop culture has returned to Afghanistan. Afghan Star - a Pop Idol-style TV series – is searching the country for the next generation of music stars. Over 2000 people are auditioning and even three women have come forward to try their luck. The organizers, Tolo TV, believe with this programme they can ‘move people from guns to music’.
But in a troubled country like Afghanistan, even music is controversial. Considered sacrilegious by the Mujahiddeen and outright banned by the Taliban (1996-2001), music has come to symbolize freedom for the youth. While the conflict still rages many of those taking part are literally risking their lives.
But the old guard warlords and religious elite have more to worry about than just music. Millions of people watch the show (11 mn watched the final – a third of the country) and vote by SMS from their cell phone for their favorite singers. For many, this is the first time they have encountered democracy: one man or one women equals one vote. All - the different genders, ethnic groups, age sectors - are equal. This is a highly radical idea in a country still essentially based on a male-dominated tribal elder system. For the first time young people, ethnic minorities and women have an arena in which to shine. And at last, the people are allowed to vote for who they want.
Bulbul, the City Bird
Der junge Sakhidad, dessen Spitzname Bulbul soviel wie ‚Spatz‘ bedeutet, verdingt sich mit zwei Freunden als Autowäscher. In ölgetränkten Anoraks, löchrigen Hosen und Gummistiefeln halten sie Tag und Nacht Ausschau nach vorbeifahrenden Wagen, die eine Politur vertragen könnten. Die Autos im populären Kabuler Viertel von Karte Seh gehören neureichen Geschäftsleuten oder sehen aus wie die weißen Karossen internationaler Hilfsorganisationen, die Neid und Bewunderung auf sich ziehen. Nach jeder Autowäsche feilschen Bulbul und seine Kumpane mit den Fahrern um eine paar Rupien Tageslohn. Was für die Besitzer oft nicht mehr als ein kleines Trinkgeld ist, bedeutet für die drei Jungen und ihre Familien das tägliche Brot.
AN APPLE FROM PARADISE
An Apple From Paradise follows one father’s search for his son, who is a student at a religious school in Kabul. When he stops attending classes, his father learns that he has been sent on a suicide bomb mission. The film tracks his frantic search. Inspired by true events, the film was shot in Kabul in winter 2007.
AFGHAN CHRONICLES
Since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan has been remaking itself. The presidential elections of 2004 and the new legislature of 2005 are evidence of the democratic process to which the country is committed. Kabul, the capital, is today a hive of activity, and the press has attained some freedom.
Afghan Chronicles focuses on the press group Killid Media, which comprises two magazines (Killid and Mursal, a women’s publication) and a radio station. The documentary reveals how this media phenomenon operates, and in so doing it portrays the rebuilding of a country that dreams of a better future, and presents the vital issues with which this reborn society must contend.
In the midst of this huge reconstruction boom, Afghan Chronicles shows the rifts in a changing society. The magazine Killid, founded to be an engine of change, carries a message of liberation from the bonds of the past and seeks new freedom of action. With its popular and accessible content, this new media venture, in which women play a leading role, combats illiteracy and ignorance. Confronting prejudices and taboos, the documentary chronicles changing attitudes in a country moving towards modernity while remaining deeply attached to the values of its culture.
TWENTY FIVE PERCENT
Her first documentary film 25 Darsad (»25 Percent«) deals with six female members of parliament and their difficulties and efforts in everyday life.
Despite their many duties, which each of the six female Afghan members of parli
ament have in their private lives as wives, mothers and daughters, they do attempt to live up to their responsibility for society both within and outside of parliament in a traditional and male-dominated environment. Since the women are not acknowledged a position in society, they must first assert it.