First Annual Afghanistan Film Festival & Mini Afghan-Market

Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan – Manitoba Chapter and Co-Sponsored by Global College

➢    Afternoon matinee:       
o    Enemies of Happiness - 4:00 pm   

➢    Evening double feature:    
o    The Beauty Academy of Kabul - 6:00 pm
o    Afghan Star - 7:45 pm   

PRICES:

Afternoon matinee is free - seating is first come, first served
Evening double feature – Regular Admission $12; Students (with ID) $7
       
SALES:

* The Mini-Market will be selling beautiful, fair trade soaps, handicrafts and clothing crafted by Afghan women
* Afghan tea and dessert will be sold in the Hall foyer between films

EVENT SYNOPSIS:  Women’s stories of hope, hilarity and healing are brought into focus through three unforgettable documentaries that capture life in Afghanistan today – experiences that most Canadians never see. The Manitoba Chapter of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan is proud to present this film festival – a first-ever for Winnipeg – to mark International Women’s Day 2010 and the struggle for justice and human rights in Afghanistan.

We will be screening three documentaries: Enemies of Happiness, The Beauty Academy of Kabul, and Afghan Star. The goal of the event is to raise $2,000, which will support Afghan projects in partnership with Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, and to increase awareness within the Winnipeg community on women’s issues in Afghanistan.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Mariam Omar, Co-Chair, Manitoba Chapter, email: Manitoba@cw4wafghan.ca

WHERE TO BUY TICKETS:

McNally Robinson Booksellers
1120 Grant Avenue (Grant Park Mall)
(204) 475-0483

Lois Edwards
(204) 488-5099

Mariam Omar
(204) 452-0177

At the door, subject to availability

FILM TITLES AND INFORMATION:
1)    Enemies of Happiness
    Directed by Eva Mulvad and Anja Al-Erhayem
    59 minutes
    Farsi, Pasthu (Subtitled in English)
   
2)    The Beauty Academy of Kabul
    Directed by Liz Mermin
    74 minutes
    English

3)    Afghan Star
    Directed by Havana Marking
    87 minutes
    English

FILM SYNOPSES (SHORT):

1)    Enemies of Happiness
In September 2005, Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections in 35 years. Among the candidates for 249 assembly seats was Malalai Joya, a courageous, controversial 27-yearold woman who had ignited outrage among hard-liners when she spoke out against corrupt warlords at the Grand Council of tribal elders in 2003. Enemies of Happiness is a revelatory portrait of this extraordinary freedom fighter and the way she won the hearts of voters, as well as a snapshot of life and politics in war-torn Afghanistan. (82 words)

    Award-winning documentary, including:
o    2007 Sundance Film Festival, World Cinema Documentary Jury Prize
o    2006 International Doc Fest, Amsterdam Silver Wolf Award

2)    The Beauty Academy of Kabul
What happens when a group of hairdressers from America travel to Kabul with the intention of telling Afghan women how to do hair? This unique development project, funded in part by beauty-industry mainstays (Vogue, M.A.C., Clairol) sets out to teach the latest cutting, coloring and perming 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 for the first time in over twenty years. The Beauty Academy of Kabul documents the poignant and often humorous processes through which women with very different experiences of life come to learn about one another. (108 words)

Review from New York Times:
“Director Liz Mermin documents the hilarious, moving and sometimes fractious meeting of diametrically different cultures, one that has suffered unimaginable horrors and one that believes a good perm is the answer to everything. "Hairdressers heal people" affirms one particularly irritating volunteer, gazing at the camera as if experiencing an epiphany. Though you may squirm at the Americans' shockingly insensitive behavior… there's no doubt that over the curling rods, a kind of healing is indeed taking place.”

3)     Afghan Star
After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, pop culture has returned to Afghanistan. Millions are watching Afghan Star - a Pop Idol-style TV series in which people from across the country compete for a cash prize and record deal. 2000 people audition, including three brave women. The viewers vote for their favorite singers by mobile phone and for many this is their first encounter with democracy. This timely and inspired film follows the moving stories of four young contestants looking for a new life. But their journeys take a terrifying turn as one young woman dances on stage, threatening her own safety and the future of the show itself. In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing. (113 words)

Award-winning documentary, including:
•    2009 Sundance Film Festival, Best World Cinema Documentary Director
•    2009 Sundance Film Festival, World Cinema Documentary Audience Award