• Female Focused Movies

• Middle East Movies

In 2005, documentary filmmakers Clif Orloff and Olga Shalygin returned to Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Olga was puzzled why virtually all the Afghan women she saw still wore the burqa... even though a new constitution was adopted that granted women equal rights with men. This time, Olga brought Serena, her 27-year-old stepdaughter. Serena lived for a month as an Afghan with Hasina, a 27-year-old Afghan woman and her family. Serena became the eyes and ears of the filmmakers. Together, Serena, Hasina and Olga set out on a journey to learn what it means to be a woman in today’s Afghanistan. In the process they confront their own conflicts with the culture and traditions

This film was clearly made on a low budget and comes with a strong bias from the producer. The film does show how the sexist roles perpetuated by the Taliban are still in place due to cultural norms. Many thought that when the Taliban would leave things would change for women but the change was minimal. This film shows how much of a struggle it will be for Afghan women to gain their rights. I urge the viewers not to make the assumption that female rights in all Muslim countries are as marginalized as they are in Afghanistan.