Afghanistan

1

The world can be a better place to live.The first wordThere are about 33 human rights film festivals around the world, however, none of them are in the Middle East or Central Asian countries which are gravely effected by human rights dilemmas. There was an attempt at a human rights film festival in Bahrain but the recent revolutions in that country and other Arab nations brought it to a grinding halt.

From past daysWhile we were involved in the Kabul short fiction and docu-mentary films festival we noticed an important and funda-mental point: the subject of human rights is reflected in most Afghan films and this indicates human rights as a fundamental concern of Afghan filmmakers. These concerns are expressed sometimes by showing challenges and sometimes by capturing achievements to hope for shaping a normal and equal society. The increase of such films and Afghan artists to human rights as a catalyst for creative output is a sign of the Afghan artists’ motivation for an equal and better society.

Art for ChangeFollowing decades of spending millions of dollars it seems as though the notion of human rights has only been reflected by laws created through political reactions, in turn, this has caused confusion concerning the concept of justice in the public eye. This incomplete and one-dimensional look towards human rights does not satisfy the goals of numerous human rights organizations and movements. The Autumn Human Rights Film Festival (AHRF) debates human rights with a different approach, bringing socio-cultural issues to the surface in order to create a discussion devoid of political aspects.

Considering all these facts, the Afghanistan Cinema Club found that a human rights film festival matches Afghan experimental cinema and from another perspective, it matches the social, political and cultural situation of this particular geographic

region. The fact is, the origin of Afghan cinema is based on human rights and an open and critical film festival is a most suitable arena for Afghan cinema. Other filmmakers and artists of the region are also interested in this manner of production and attempt to bypass the pressures of limitations by govern-ments in their areas.

None of the regional governments are interested in supporting these kinds of festivals.

The first Autumn Human Rights Film Festival is an opportunity not only for Afghan filmmakers, but even for regional artists and filmmakers from all around the world. The belief in an artist’s power and influence causes the artists to try for change, but creation is not enough. One of this festival’s mission’s is to build a chance for showcasing their creations, and an opportunity to discuss and debate the power of arts and pictures in the field of human rights. We hope by running this festival in a territory of war and tragedy, we all will be able to make the cultural identity of Afghanistan independent from political and militarism inter-ests. We hope to expand the concept of human rights among our national audience and in the long term, move human rights work from the political meeting room to a cultural and social norm.

We have decided to organize the festival annually and it is our deepest wish that the donor and partner organizations continue their supports to the festival to empower the festival to achieve its goals and have a positive impact on films and art productions in Afghanistan and the region.

ThanksMalek Shafi’iDirector of AHRF

Death to freedom“Death to freedom” is about a poor andsmall village surrounded by big cities.For its improvement, the cities donatea lot of money to it, but all the moneyis spent by the village elders and offi-cials to show off their power. They buyweapons and ammunitions with thedonated money and kill the innocentpeople instead of their rivals.

About Director:Mohammad Naser Hashemi was bornin Andarab district of Baghlan province.He got his bachelor degree in film di-recting from Kabul University. He madehis short films named “Chance” and“Open your Eyes”. “Death to Freedom”is his first animation film.

3

2

Hope“Hope” is the story of a little girl who makes foam in a glass and blows bubbles. This animation begins with a scene of a glass full of foam and then it merges with real life and ambitions of an Afghan girl.

About Director:Fatema Hasani was born in 1986. She finished high school in Iran and is cur-rently studying economics. She has worked for several private TV channels and has co-directed films like “A woman sings in desert” and “Where they call me half value life”.She directed the film “Sky is mine” as her first short film.After passing a training course in ani-mation directing, she made her first animation film named “Hope”.

5

HitlerA writer worm wants to write a story about injustices done to its kind and its ancestors by humans. The worm tries to make the other worms to know the humans better, but it becomes a victim of human violence itself.

About Director:“Mohsen Hosaini” was born in Kabul in 1977. At seven years of age, his family moved to Iran and he got his bachelor degree in Animation directing from Broadcasting College of Iran. When he returned to Afghanistan six years ago, he began making animation films. Since then, he has made three animation films such as: “Shelter”, “Per-fume” and “Hitler”. Besides animation making, he is also a graphic designer.

4

Poppy the destroyerIn a poppy field, the poppy plants an-noy the other plants and poison them. In this field, a butterfly becomes friend with a flower which has grown among the poppies. There is a moth-eating bird that wants to hunt the butterfly and …..

About Director:Ali Reza was born in 1985.He has been a professional and skillful advertisement animator and short ani-mation movies’ director since 2004. He began animation career years earlier in exile.And now working to awanama produc-tion and Seven TV .“The Last Shout” and “Poppy the de-stroyer” are his latest Short Animation movies.

7

ShelterA homeless child who lives in street under a tree, becomes friend of a bird that lives on that tree, but war begins and this war change their lives ….

About Director:“Mohsen Hosaini” was born in Kabul in 1977. At seven years of age, his family moved to Iran and he got his bachelor degree in Animation directing from Broadcasting College of Iran. When he returned to Afghanistan six years ago, he began making animation films. Since then, he has made three animation films such as: “Shelter”, “Per-fume” and “Hitler”. Besides animation making, he is also a graphic designer.

6

Check point15 policemen inspect all the cars that enterto center of city through in Dehbori district.The police men have been gathered fromdifferent provinces to maintain the securityof Kabul city, they stay together in 3 greencontainers with a few facilities of accom-modation.They do not know what is exactly happen-ing, because nobody is paying attention tothem and informing them about the situa-tion in the city. But they understand andknow that the security is the most impor-tant issue and essential for the residentsof Kabul city and they try to make the citysecure.

About Director:Hamed Alizadeh was born in north of Afghanistan.Like most Afghans he grew up, in exile, in Iran.In 2006, he entered Kabul University,department of theater and cinema. He hadalso gotten a part time job with a weeklymagazine, writing those articles and takingphotographs. In 2009, he attendedAtelier Varan, a French documentary filmworkshop. Thereafter, he started makingdocumentaries reflecting on social andcultural issues.

9

Addicted in AfghanistanJabar and Zahir are two 15 year old friends who are addicted to drugs and whose sisters, moth-ers and fathers are also addicted to heroin and opium. Filmed over a year, “Addicted in Afghanistan” is an intimate and uncompromising portrayal of the day to day struggles of a new generation of children addicted to heroin, trying to find their way in the new Afghanistan.

About the Director:Jawed Taiman was born in Kandahar, Afghani-stan and now lives in London. Jawed made his first short non-fiction film “Zendan” (“Prison”) in Afghanistan about Allam, a teacher who secretly educated girls in his home in Kabul. It was broadcast on Tapesh TV in the USA and was awarded Best Short Film, at EICAR Film School, Paris 2006. Zendan also screened at the Short Film Corner, at Cannes in 2007. “Ad-dicted in Afghanistan” is his first documentary, which has won over 4 awards and screened at major international film festivals. Jawed has been living in Afghanistan since 2007 and worked as a news producer for Voice of America TV /Afghan Service. Jawed is currently working on his new feature length documenta-ry called(Voice of a Nation, My journey through Afghanistan) which focuses on the last 10 years of governance and presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan and its effects in terms of devel-opment, security and education.

8

Half value lifeA girl listening to the radio at home, awoman walking at her workplace.The camera follows their steps in parallel,focusing on the mirror they look at, puttinglipstick on. Women telling their stories. Ontelevision, the report of a terrorist attack,outside in the city.Marya Basher is the first woman in Afghan-istan who has become a senior provincialinvestigator officer, taking a big responsi-bility. Women in high positions are often considered incapable to carry their posts duties. By actively advocating for women’s rights and supporting mistreated young women, she puts her life in serious danger.

About Director:Alka Sadat was born in 1986 in Herat,Afghanistan. She studied cinema in Italy.She made her first film when she was 17years old. She made 12 films up to nowand 10 films of her works won national andinternational awards.

11

Death to the cameraA camera moves among woman working theirlast day on a work site. They fight with eachother, accuse each other of being prostitutes,liars and racists. The mood repeatedly shiftsbetween belly laughs and rage. For hours theyare left waiting to be paid by their employers,their time seemingly worth nothing. As theywait, they consider what debts they will be ableto pay off, what food they’ll buy, how they’llstay warm during the approaching winter.They discuss what happens to all the aid thatnever reaches them and whether Karzai is acrook or a servant of the people. Is the camerarevealing anything truthful or simply incitingthese women to present what they think ‘theother’ wants to hear and what might get themsomething from the world on the other side ofthe camera?

About the Director:Sayed Qasem Hussaine was born in 1991and now he is studying cinema in KabulUniversity. Further his interest in documentary Film, he directed the documentary film like: Drugged and Carpet was screened at Festival AKHEN in Germany, Los Angeles Film Festival as the 12th the best film, and is also being screened in different universities in New York and Los Angeles. Death to the camera is currently being screened in ten universities in Boston,New York, and Washington. His is a film sound designer.

10

Look, who is drivingBorn in Faryab Province, Airokhsh FaizQaisary studied International Communica-tions in the United States; and later on shestarted making news stories, features anddocumentaries in 2010 with Afghan Voicesorganization. Her first documentary called“Look Who is Driving” was screened atthe London Open City Film Festival in June2011. She is currently working on a newdocumentary about early and forced mar-riages in Afghanistan in order to eradicatethis practice in her country.

About Director:Born in Faryab Province, Airokhsh Faiz Qaisary studied International Communica-tions in the United States; and later on she started making news stories, features and documentaries in 2010 with Afghan Voices organization. Her first documentary called “Look Who is Driving” was screened at the London Open City Film Festival in June 2011. She is currently working on a new documentary about early and forced marriages in Afghanistan in order to eradicate this practice in her country.

13

Light in caveA film by Sayed Suleiman Amanzad is an ac-count of his survival against Taliban brutality inBamyan in 1999. He was four-years-old whenThe Taliban captures their village and startskilling people. He and his family along withothers hid in a cave nearby. This saved them.After that his family moved to Kabul. He getsa chance to study in Kabul and later on winsa scholarship to study in the US for one year.Now he is a journalist and filmmaker - his pre-miered at the London Film Festival. This storyillustrates three things; one, the genocide ofthe Hazara people by the Taliban; two, the cavewhich was the game changer in his life; andthree, the comparison between his situationnow and the situation of young boys who stilllive in his village in Bamyan and due to povertyare illiterate and work as farmers.

About the Director:Sayed Suleiman Amanzad was born inDukani village of Bamiyan province in 1994.After leaving Bamiyan in 1994 becauseof Taliban’s genocide, he came to Kabulwith his family. He has been to US as anexchange student and was selected to betrained as a journalist under a programcalled Afghan Voices. The Light in the Caveis his first short documentary. His film wasscreened in Open City London Film Festivalin June 2011 in London. He now is ajournalist/filmmaker in Afghan Voices andKabul at Work projects.

12

An Apple from ParadiseAn Apple from Paradise follows one fa-ther’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. Inspired by true events the film tracks his frantic search.The film has received many awards from film festivals.

About Director:Homayun Morowat was born in Kabul1965. He is a graduate of the VGIK Moscowfilm institute. His first short documentary“HOPE” was received very positively byAfghan society in 1984. His second film “Golden dream” was about the popular Afghan singer Amir Saboori, but faced cen-sorship due to its political content. He has been living in Sweden since 1998.

15

We StarsWe Stars is about the problems that many female artists face every day in Afghan cinema. Women artists who have played an important and successful role in the history of cinema in Afghanistan are now suffering from financial, social, family and security problems.Most of them have been ostra-cized by their families and relatives.

About Director:Aqheela Rezaee was born in Kabul. In 2005,she got her bachelor degree in Journalism from Kabul University and at the same time she completed her studies in Geography from Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani University.She has been working as an actress formore than 11 years. She has played differ-ent roles in several movies including; “5afternoon” (by Samira Makhmalbaf), “StrayDogs” (by Marzia Meshkeeni), “Honor” (byNilofar Pazeera) and the series “The secretsof this house”.She started working as a documentarydirector since the last two years. Her firstdocumentary “We Stars” has depictedthe problems and challenges thatmost Afghan women face in the society.

14

NeighboursNeighbour captures the tragedy of the Afghan refugee community in Iran. Set in the Safaid Sang (White Stone) near the Iranian-Afghan border, it tells the story of ordinary Afghans trapped by circumstance in a foreign land, and the daily humiliations and trials they face at the hands of brutal and corrupt officials and guards...... .

About Director “Zubair Farghand” is a director, writer andactor. He started his artistic activities with“Cyclist”, a film by “Mohsen Makhmalbaf”in Iran since 1984.He has written and directed differentfilms including; “Because, for you” (cin-ematicfilm), “Darwish” (TV serial) and“Neighbour” (Hamsaya) in 2009. The film has toured in many festival circuits.

17

The bare footThe film casts a young Afghan boy who lives with his younger sister and grand-mother in Kabul. He sells water and cold drinks for survival. His life is subject to different forms of social discrimination at school and in his community. He has pas-sion for football,later on perfected by his football coach. He not only brings joy to his teammates in Afghanistan but embarks on a chance to play in an international event, the Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, Australia. The film shows how he has paid the price of losing his parents to a terrorist attack in Kabul.

About Director:Raz Mohammad Dalili was born in 1959 inGhazni, Afghanistan. He studied economicsin Kabul University and has servedas a teacher in the fields of human rights activist, peacebuilding and development. He is currently the Executive Director of Sanayee Productions and Sanayee Devel-opment organization. He has directed and produced a number of educational films for children and youth over the last 10 years. PaaBerahna (the Bare foot) is his latest production.

16

A Letter to Light“A Letter to Light” is the story of a 13 year old boy, Jamshid, who has been visuallyimpaired since childhood. Doctors tell himthat he will gradually become fully blind.Jamshid has suffered throughout his child-hood and stays away from people, justwishing he could see his surroundings likeothers. But, he becomes blinder by the day.

About DirectorGhafar Azad was born in 1985 in Herat province in Afghanistan. In 2006, he at-tended the Afghan TOLO Filmmaker Lab, conducted by J. F. Lawton (Hollywood Writ-er, Director - Producer) where he studiedScreenplay Writing, Directing, Editing, andCamera & Producing. After completing thecourse, he worked as a cinematographeron the documentary films, I Can Do; KabulStadium and Burka. In 2009, he was invitedby the Satyajit Ray Film Institute in India toparticipate in a film training course.

19

Paper boatsThis is the story of a group of five little girls who were living in an old house in a city in Afghanistan. They are all very special and have a big aims in their lives. One of them (Nasrin), now 32 years old had to leave her country during childhood.She has returned to Afghanistan and wants to find her old friends. She knows that Setareh, one of the girls, is the head of a psychiatric hospital but …. .

About Director:Fariba Haidari was born in 1983 in Heratcity. Her family immigrated to Iran whenshe was a little girl. Fariba graduated fromnursing faculty from Iran where she alsostudied filmmaking and photography. Fariba returned to Afghanistan in 2005 and began her filmmaking projects in Heart byestablishing an association named “Houseof Art” that teaches the youth (especiallygirls) the art of filmmaking. She has direct-ed more than 10 films.

18

Before I was good“Before I was good” follows the story of atwenty-year-old girl named Zahra, who wasengaged to Hamid for six years. It was nother choice; she was forced by her sister.The day before the wedding, she attempt-ed suicide by self-immolation, setting her-self on fire to escape the forced marriage.She was hospitalized for three months.Although she can walk, talk and work, sheSuffered severe burns on her face and wasabandoned by her family. She ended upmarrying Hamid when she was releasedfrom hospital.

About DirectorM. Masoud Ziaee has been a member ofHerat computer science faculty for twoyears. He has been to the US as part of an exchange student in 2006 and 2007. In August 2010, he was part of a Journalism training program from Afghan Voices. Since that time he has made about twentyfeature stories and documentary films. Hisfirst documentary film Before I was Goodwas chosen for the London Open City FilmFestival in UK. He is currently working on another film, a road trip from Herat to Kabul.

21

Bad Margha“Bad Daadan” (Bad Marriage) is a prevalent custom in many parts of Afghanistan. If a man kills another man from another family, family of the murderer marries one of their girls to a man of slain family to protect the killer and solve the problem and spite.“Bad Margha” is the story of an innocentgirl who is forced to marry as “Bad” witha man of a slain family. She starts her lifewith hope and love, but she faces manyproblems and disappointment. Her hus-band and his family members always annoy and abuse her. Finally, she becomes over weary and burns herself.

About Director:“Abdul Wakil Waqar” was born in 1971(1350) in Laghman province. He finishedhis school in Nangarhar province andworked as a cameraman for many years,and then he became manager of the Drama Dialogue section of Nation Radio and television in Nangarhar province.He made his first short film in 2004 (1383)named “Bad Margha” with the financial support of the “Independent Commission of Human Rights”. He has also directed two other films named “Jabr”and “Khazana”.

20

Dead aliveA woman lives with her son and daughter. Her daughter was born after she was raped by a man in the same place where she lives. That night events always annoy her. She begins to think how to kill her innocent young daughter, but her motherly love pre-vents her from doing this horrible act. She is waiting and looking for a proper time to take revenge….

About Director Lal Mohammad Alizadah was born in Yakawlang district of Bamyan province in 1981 (1360). After graduation, he started working with private television channels to gain experience. As director and writer, Lal Mohammad has created works such as: “The Lost” (Gomshoda), “Friend” (Habib), “Kindness” (Mehrwarzi) and “The last beginning” (WapasinAghaz) (which won an award at the Peace Film Festival that was held by the Afghanistan Civil Society). He has also worked as co-director with di-rector Mohsen Makhmalbaf in “Basket and Foot” (Sabad wa Paa).

23

The Sign of Hand“The Sign of Hand” is a film about the human rights and drugs. A boy and a girl falls in love. Their parents deal with opium cultivation and opium smuggling. The boy’s father is a poppy farmer while the girl’s father is a smuggler/drug dealer. The boy emphasises that his father should ask the girl in marriage from his father, the smug-gler. The smuggler (girl’s father) makes a deal of giving him opium in return to their girl for which the sons father had to once again start poppy cultivation that he wanted to quit. In result the boy’s father is caught by the police during poppy farming and the love couple never meet.

About Director:“ Mohammad Shah Majroh” began hisartistic career in 1992 (1371). Since thattime, he has made 25 short TV films for Na-tional TV in Nangarhar province, two filmsfor “the Independent Commission of Hu-man Rights”, two commercial films, five video clips for songs and has written six plays for Afghanistan National Theatre. He has also made a short film and wrote 100 plays for “Afghanistan Study Institute”.

22

“Imagination”, is a story about two women with different point of views, one is op-timistic and the other one is pessimistic. The one who is optimistic has a good view of the world around. She makes a window from a carton and paints sunflower, but-terfly and a sun inside the window. She then sticks this window on her room’s real window. The other woman ….

About DirectorPoet and filmmaker, Laila Haydari, wasborn during migration period in 1977(1356). Laila’s life is connected to poetry and filmmaking. In addition to art and literature, she has successfully trained in fields of movie direction, journalism and TV anchoring.Laila started writing poetry in 2003. In the last three years, she began her filmmaking career and achieved many successes. Her first short film (11 min.) “Imagination” won the 1st award at the Tolo Film Festival.

25

I want horse not wifeAn American film crew casts 10-year-old “Zal” and people living in refugee camps as extras, to act in a film. After the film shooting, when Zal returns to his tent, his father gives him the surprising news that he has found a young girl for him to marry and a horse for his brother with a 100 dollars from a meager immigrant man. But ten-year-old Zalwants a horse not a wife…

About Director:Homayoun Paiez was born in 1959 and started his career as an actor in 1978 in Afghan films such as “Sabor the Soldier”, “Escape”, “Bright Morning”, “Immigrant Birds”, “Desire”, and “Ascension”. He also worked as an assistant director for Osama, Earth and Ashes, and Opium War. He has directed the short films “Scarifies”, “Aaho” and “I want Horse Not Wife”, that have been screened in several international film festivals.

24

Mr Fazili’s wife is about an Afghan womanwho tries to live an independent life at atime when her little daughter is losing hervision due to illness.

About Director Hassan Fazili was born in 1983 in Herat cityand began his artistic acting career in theatre in Shibarghan where he trained under Ustad Baisad, the father of theatre of Afghanistan. He has studied filmmaking through participating in workshops and through hands-on working practice. He has successfully directed and acted in a num-ber of theatre productions.He has also directed several documentariesfilms and has written several playsand film stories.

27

Joy of fervencyEveryone deserves some joy in their life. But SofiKarim’s joys have turned into an addiction as well as a source of income for him to the extent that he sacrifices his wife and children for this joy. SofiKarim’s way of thinking costs him and his family a very unpleasant destiny.

About Director:QaderAryaei entered into the film industry for the first time in 1979. He has acted in many narrative films such as: “Te Circle”, “the Stanger”, “Ascension”, “Escape”, “Earth and Ashes”. Aryaeiis unable to com-plete his studies in the Journalism School of Kabul University due to the instability in Afghanistan. His short films “The Moon Behind Window”, “Swamp” and “Joy of Fervency” have been screened in many film festivals and have received prestigious awards.

26

Taar wa ZakhmaAy Nabaat is a 17 year- old girl from an eth-nic minority (Turkman) of Afghanistan. She has woven carpet at home since childhood and saw her entire life interlocked to car-pet- strings and colors. Her father, in order to end his old bloody hostility with another ethnic group that has lasted for years, marry Ay Nabaat to a man who already has three wives. After marriage, when Ay Nabaat gets pregnant, her husband in or-der to revenge his lasting hostilities in the worst way possible claims that the child is illegitimate. Thus Ay Nabaat’s father gets her out of the house and she is forced to give birth to her child in an abandoned and devastated house.

About Director Roya Sadat was born in Herat and has a Bachelor in Law & Political Science from University of Herat in 2005.She has also a certificate of Film Directing from Asian Film Academy, Busan - South Korea in 2006.“Three Dots” is Roya’s first film which was produced in 2003. This film won sev-eral awards in different film festivals. She funded “Roya Film House” with her sister in 2003. “Taar wa Zakhma” is another im-portant film which she made it in 2010 and has attracted attention by audiences.

29

Me and my motherA small boy leaves home for school, but hejoins other boys to play games. He forgetsto go to school or to return home. Whenhis mother realizes that her son is late, shebecomes nervous and …..

About Director:Halima Hashemi began her artistic activi-ties in cinema and theater in “Simorgh Artand Culture Centre” in 2006 (1385).She has played different roles in more than15 short and long films.Fariba Bqheri and Zainab Jafari startedtheir cinematic activities in 2010, afterpassing filmmaking training from “SimorghArt and Culture Centre”.After completing the filmmaking training,they joined a directorial group to make ashort film named “I and my Mother”. Thefilm achieved the 3rd position in “Herat,Kid short Film Festival”.

28

Shabana“Shabana” is a small girl who has to work in a brick factory to earn money to treat her father’s illness. Due to lack of money and improper job, all the men who work in the brick factory are single and they would like to marry girls of their choice. One night, when Shabana’s father is undergoing operation at the hospital, one of the men in the factory rapes Shabana and ……

About Director:Mohammad Haroon Hamdard was born in Kabul and learned the art of film making during his stay in Iran. Now he cooperates as a film maker with Saba Publication Insti-tute. “Hope” documentary has an inves-tigative theme that talks about children’s situation in Kabul and “Shabana” is a short fiction film that was made by him.

31

QizlarA pregnant woman with a lot of thorn on her back and intolerable pain reaches her tent where she gives birth. When her husband realizes that she has delivered a baby girl, he leaves them for many years. Now the little girl has become a young woman…..

About Director:Karima Hasanzadah was born in Kabul in 1986 (1365). She started in arts as a makeup artist in the serial named “Myster-ies of this house”. She then made her first short film named “Edy”. Her second film is called “Qizlar” and was made in 2011.

30

The angels of earthThis is the story of two Afghan children living in Afghanistan. One of them wants to fly; he jumps and tries to fly…

About Director:Sayed Jalal Hussaini was born in 1988. He came back to Afghanistan after the Tali-ban era and joined the Fine Arts’ Faculty in Kabul University in 2005. He helped his classmates with their movies in editing and shooting. ”In the Night Color” was his first short film. He started his professional career with “Angels of the Earth” in 2009.he make also “In The Name Of Opium” and “Parenthesis”. He also work as first assistant of Director in a TV Drama ”Separ” and as Editor in ”BehashteKhamoosh” another TV Drama from TOLO TV. He is one of Participants of Talent Campus in 2011 in Belinale Film Festival.He is Member of Jump Cut Cinematic Group in Afghanistan.

33

Small handsMohammad Rahim has eight daughters and a son. Rules and traditions of a patriar-chal society make a lot of problems for his six year-old daughter Arezo. To support her family, Arezo works with her father who is a blacksmith. She has learned very well, how to heat the iron...

About Director:Ahmad Ali Qais was born in 1982 (1361) in Kabul. He completed his studying in Electric Engineering. He also passed several trainings in the fields of radio and televi-sion. He has a close cooperation with private televisions such as; Aeena, Noorin and Bakhtar. Qais has already made several documentaries and short films.“Small Hands” is Qais’s recent documen-tary. At present he is working on a pre-production process for his first long feature film.

32

International

35

You don’t blong to this landSardar, a young Afghan refugee in Iran who works in a tailor shop, is fired because he does not have legal documentation. His fiancé has come to Iran because of Sardar’s promises to provide her a reasonable life, but she is currently in a border camp wait-ing for him to come and take her. Sardar, deep in trouble, needs official documenta-tionto travel; he decides to buy an Iranian ID…

About Director:Mohammad Hassani was born in 1982 (1362). He learned film making in “Iranian Youth’s Cinema Union” in 2006 (1385). Hassani has experience in acting, co-directing and directing in Iran theatre. The feature film “You don’t belong to this land” is his first film as a director.

34

BilalThe story begins inside an 8x10 feet partitioned room in central Kolkata, India. Almost nothing is visible inside. In fact, Bilal’s parents don’t need any light to see things around; they are blind. Bilal is just three years old and he has an infant brother. Both can see. So together they live as if in a game of seeing and not seeing. Though of a very tender age, Bilal is fully aware of the physical handicap of his parents. He knows how to communicate with them through sounds and touch. He is never jobless - be it guiding his blind parents through the traffic or training up the art of making mischief with his brother. Whenever Bilal is in the mood for mis-chief, his parents become strict and their son jumps into the world outside. Bilal tastes life on the street from his elders - it’s hard. But he never gives up. Very unusually for our times, Bi-lal’s upbringing and care seems to have become a collective responsibility of all the neighbors.

About Director:Sourav Sarangi, born in 1964 studied geology but later joined FTII, a reputed film school in India to learn film editing. Currently he is involved in international co-productions as an independent producer and director. The few documentaries and fictions Sourav made won awards and ac-colades worldwide. He has also extensively worked in private television channels in India as the programming director.

37

36

Dinner with the predisentWhat are the implications for democracy in Pakistan when secular political parties have succumbed to the Islamic agenda? What does it mean when the army appears to be the only force able to contain the opponents of democracy, the armed Islamists? President Musharraf agrees to explore this apparent contradiction over dinner at his official residence, the Army House. As the discussion moves in and out of the different worlds in Pakistan a complex tapestry emerges revealing a society unique yet universal. The filmmaker talks to diverse individuals, from laborers to intellectuals, from street vendors to religious right wing political party members, and from journalists to industrialists. What is their idea of democracy in Pakistan? What is their idea of Presi-dent Musharraf’s vision of a modern Pakistan? Din-ner with the President questions the role a military leader can play in guiding a state towards modern democracy.

About Director:Born in Karachi, SABIHA SUMAR studied Filmmak-ing and Political Science at Sarah Lawrence College in New York and later, History and Political Thought at the University of Cambridge. Who Will Cast the First Stone (1988) was her first film (for Channel Four Television, UK). It won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and was also screened at In Visible Colors, Vancouver. She has gone on to direct many other films including Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters 2003), a feature film which received the Silver Grand Balloon for Second Best Film at the 3 Continents Festival, France, and the Golden Leop-ard for Best Film at the Locarno International Film Festival. In 2003 she also documented her personal journey through the Islamisation process in Pakistan in Hawa Kay Naam (For a Place under the Heavens).

39

DiasporaThis short documentary is a film on Iranian asylum seekers. After the Iranian revolu-tion in 1979, a considerable number of Iranians left their country to find a better life abroad. Their journey was and still is accompanied usually with so many en-tanglements and difficulties. Diaspora is a story of one of these people – a young man who now lives in the UK. His journey is one of suffering and pain. Sadly, he has not found his home yet.

About Director:Atieh Attarzadeh Firozabad was born in 1984 in Tehran, Iran. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at Tehran Art University, and finished her Masters in Cinema at the University of Tehran. She is currently un-dertaking a Masters of Arts in Documenta-ry Practice at the University of Bristol. She has directed five documentaries and two short films, most of which center around Iranian women. She is a member of Ira-nian Documentary Filmmakers Association (IRDFA).

38

In search of AssemunThe filmmaker and her grandfather are on a journey across Awadh, the heart of northern India. They are looking for traces of the world that shaped the music of Aseemun, a gifted but obscure folk singer who was part of both their lives. Using archival footage, old photographs and ex-tensive music, the film travels, literally and otherwise, into a way of life that combines the best of Hindu and Muslim cultures. Part road movie, part family album, ‘In Search of Aseemun’ tries to capture the changing physical and emotional terrain of ‘timeless’ India, as seen through the eyes of an Indian Muslim family.

About Director:Taran Khan is a filmmaker and writer based in Mumbai. She studied filmmaking at the AJK Mass Communication Research Center, JamiaMilliaIslamia, in New Delhi (India). She has worked on several documentary projects around the World Social Forum process in Brazil and India. She participated in Berlin Talent Campus in 2007. In Search of Aseemun is her first full-length docu-mentary. She currently lives and works in Kabul, holding workshops with Afghan film-makers on video production and journalism

41

Egypt we are watching youIn his 2005 State of the Union address President Bush cited Egypt as the country that would pave the way for democracy in the Middle East. Three women, unable to sit by while their country is on the brink of drastic change, start a grassroots movement to educate and empower the public by raising awareness on the meaning of democracy. They name their campaign Shayfeen.com - “we are watching you.” This film follows the highs and lows of the first year of their movement in Egypt. Insisting that only the people can make change happen, their goal is to educate the Egyptian public on what it takes to build the most basic pil-lars of democracy: basic human rights, freedom of speech and the establishment of an independent judiciary. Egypt: We are watching you highlight the importance of ordinary citizens participating in shaping and securing their democracy.

About Director:SheriefElkatsha was born in the USA, but raised in Cairo, Egypt. A graduate of Boston University, with a BA in Film Production, he has worked on numerous television pro-ductions, from music videos with Wyclef Jean and the The Roots, to Discovery Channel’s Eco-Challenge. His documentary Butts Out, which follows smokers and their difficult and comical struggles to quit, won the Best Documentary Award at the 2006 New England Film and Video Festival. In 2006 he was selected for the Berlinale Tal-ent Campus.

40

Iron ladies from LiberiaAfter fourteen years of civil war, Liberia is a na-tion ready for change. On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated President, following a hotly contested election which she won with the overwhelming support of women across Liberia. She is the first elected female head of state in Africa. Since taking office she has appointed other extraor-dinary women to leadership positions in all areas of government, including the Police Chief and the ministers of Justice, Commerce and Finance.Can the first female Liberian president, backed by other powerful women, bring sustainable democracy and peace to such a devastated country?Iron Ladies of Liberia gives behind-the-scenes access to President Sirleaf’s first year in government, pro-viding a unique insight into the workings of a newly elected African cabinet.

About Director:Daniel Junge was named by Filmmaker maga-zine as one of 25 up-and-coming filmmakers in 2003. Junge had his feature-length directo-rial debut with Chiefs, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Documentary, and subsequently re-ceived national airing on PBS. He also won four regional Emmy’s for Common Good (2005), a six-part series on Social Entrepreneurs. Co-Di-rector Siatta Scott-Johnson was born in Buch-anan, Liberia, 1974, and raised in rural Grand Bassa County. She has five years of experience as a reporter and producer at DCTV, one of Li-beria’s few broadcast television stations, and is a founding member of Omuahtee Africa Media.

43

In search of GandhiIn the early decades of the twentieth century Ma-hatma Gandhi’s legacy of non-violent revolution or Satyagraha inspired a mass movement of millions of Indians to rise up against the British colonial state and successfully agitate for the establishment of a democratic and free India. In 2007, the country is preparing to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of its existence as an independent nation, but what kind of a democracy does India have today? What does it actually mean to live in the world’s largest democ-racy? In road-movie style, the film crew travels down the famous trail of Gandhi’s salt march, the remark-able mass campaign that galvanized ordinary Indians to join the non-violent struggle for democracy and freedom almost a century ago. Stopping at the same villages and cities, where Gandhi and his followers had raised their call for independence, the film docu-ments the stories of ordinary citizens in India today. Although inspired by a historical event In Search of Gandhi is not a journey back in time. Instead it is a search for the present and future of democracy in India.

About Director:LALIT VACHANI is director of the New Delhi based Wide Eye Film. He studied at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, USA. His previous documentary films have been on the star-system and the social worlds within the Bollywood film industry (The Academy, 1995; The Starmaker, 1997) and on the indoctrination, ideology and the politics of Hindutva propagated by the Hindu fundamentalist organization, the RSS (The Boy in the Branch, 1993; The Men in the Tree, 2002). His most recent work is The Play Goes On (2005), a documen-tary about JANAM, a socialist street theatre group in India.

42

Saudi womenThis short documentary reveals the views of life among modern Saudi women. A number of women from various ages and social standards talk about their need for empowerment in a male dominated society.

About Director:Hassan Hatrash lives in Saudi Arabia. Ha-trash’s focus is on developing and combin-ing his three passions-journalism, photog-raphy and music- and using them to reflect local culture. He spent many years writing for Saudi Gazette and Arab news and later worked with CNN and ABC news. He later served as a volunteer on foreign documen-taries filmed in Mecca and became a paid consultant on such films.

45

Joint for lifeAbby and Brittany Hensel are eleven-year-old conjoined twins. They are intelligent, energetic, fun-loving girls who just hap-pen to share one set of legs and one set of arms - each girl controlling one half of their conjoined body. In their own words, they are “just two people...stuck together.”

About Director:Bill Hayes is the President and founder of Advanced Medical Productions, Inc and Figure 8 Films. He has produced over 300 nonfiction television programs and documentaries that have aired all over the world. His company’s programs have won numerous awards and continue to reach millions of viewers through various net-works.Bill grew up on a farm in the mountains of North Carolina, went to Duke University and began dreaming of making documen-taries.

44

Something about GeorgiaThe film is a political fable that depicts the frail equilibrium of the world and questions the values of international politics. The film takes us through a critical year in the life of Georgia’s young democracy – from the presidential election of January 2008 to the chaos of the war with Russia and the sobering aftermath – and raises questions about political responsibility and the morality of international affairs. It intimately captures the human and politi-cal drama of those months, when Georgia found itself briefly at the centre of global attention, and poses searching questions about the modern world and its values.

About Director:Nino Kirtadze was born in Tbilisi, Geor-gia and holds a degree in literature. Her scriptfor the full-length feature film (“Mon-day”) won the best script award from the GeorgianUnion of Cinematographers in 1991. Kirtadze is member of the French writers’ anddirectors’ society La SCAM and a member of the European film Academy. NinoKirtadze collaborates on a regular basis with different national and interna-tionalorganizations as a consultant, jury, lecturer, and tutor.

47

SergioIn the summer of 2003, Sergio, a dashing 55-year old Brazilian career diplomat, was the only senior United Nations official able to charm the notoriously anti-UN Bush Administration. A humanitarian of the highest order, Sergio was considered by some a cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy. Urged by President Bush, Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice and Kofi Annan to lead what was ultimately a flawed UN mission to Iraq shortly after the invasion, Sergio was the only individual who had successfully led an occupied nation towards independence...in East Timor, just two years before. He didn’t want the Iraq job and had opposed the war to begin with -- but Sergio arrived in Baghdad with his unusual style and panache, accompanied by his “A Team” - the best and brightest experts the UN had to offer - and his colleague and fiancée, Carolina, whom he’d met in East Timor. After a disastrous string of relationships, Sergio was finally ready to settle down and begin a new life with the woman he loved. A huge truck bomb exploded directly beneath his office, instantly killing many UN employees, includ-ing members of his own “A Team.” But Sergio himself was alive…….

About Director:Greg Barker, a former war correspondent-turned filmmaker, has worked and filmed in over 50 coun-tries across six continents. His most recent film is SERGIO, which won the editing award at Sundance 2009 and was shortlisted for the 2010 Academy Awards; it was broadcasted on HBO on 2010. He previously made numerous films for the PBS series Frontline, including the award-winning Ghosts of Rwanda, the product of his seven years of research into the Rwandan genocide. He lives in London and Los Angeles.

46

Where were you?A film about our passing youth. A time when we choose an identity or when one is forced upon us.A time when we tried our best to fit in and be ourselves. Not an easy time when one did not manageto do the right thing.

About Director:Victor Lindgren has never studied film or drama. He started as a construction worker making films in his free time. Vic-tor is passionate to tell the story of people who otherwise would not be heard.

49

The art of fightingIn 1999 Hussain Sadiqi fled the remote mountains of central Afghanistan as the Taliban stepped up their violent persecution of the Hazara people. This was to be the start of Hussain’s epic 20,000km journey. 10 years later, this self confessed ‘nomad’ is about to give up his new life in Australia to pursue his life long dream - a dream that was born over 20 years ago, when a young Hussain first saw a torn and battered picture of his life long hero, Bruce Lee.

About Director:Gavain Browne is an award-winning director whose work spans across commercials,film,photography and documentary.After completing an Honours year scholarship at the China National Academy of Art, Gavaingraduated with a Bachelor of Design (First Class Honours), from the University of WesternSydney in 1997 becoming the first student from the Department of Visual and PerformingArts to receive the University Medal.Over the last 13 years, Gavain has worked as a direc-tor in Sydney, Brisbane and Londonand has contin-ued to develop significant personal projects, most notably ‘The London PostcodeProject’ – a 6-month photo-documentary project based on the London postcode system.This project culminated in a 2009 exhibition at the Queensland Centre for Photog-raphy. Gavain’s advertising and design work has garnered awards from New York Festivals,Australian Cinematographers Society, Brisbane Advertising and Design Awards and theworld PROMAX/ BDA association. Creative Review, Desktop Magazine, Australian Creativeand The Australian Magazine have all featured some of Gavain’s work.‘The Art of Fighting’, co-produced with Alex Barnes, is Gavain’s debut Documentary Short.

48

Accordion“Accordion” is the most recent Panahi’s film. Two children (a brother and a sister) are out there living on the streets of Tehran by playing their accordion. Their accordion is forcibly taken away by a man, who finds the children guilty of playing music inside a mosque. After this event their problems start growing and …..

About Director:“JafarPanahi” was born in Iran in 1960 (1339) and studied film directing at Iran Broadcasting College in Tehran. He made his first film “Pol” in 1986 (1365). “The White Balloon” his fist long feature film won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.He has directed several films such as “The Mirror” (1996), “The Circle” (1999) “The Red Gold” (2002), and “Offside” (2005).After the disputed presidential election in Iran on December 20, 2010, JafarPanahi was handed a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on making or directing any movies and writing screenplays.

51

A little bit higherTwo crane drivers are waiting for their work to begin. The two men have never met before and start getting to know each other.The younger of the two is more concerned with his tangled love life than with the job at hand and the older is an ex-teacher do-ing overtime to make ends meet. The older man is standing in for the usual driver and is worried that someone might recognise him when the true nature of the job is revealed to him.

About Director:Mehdi Jafari was born in Ahvaz, Iran on September 29 1969 and began his artistic career as a photographer and cinematogra-pher in 1985.He obtained his B.A. from the Arts faculty at Tehran University in 1993 and has made numerous documentaries and short films both as director and chief cameraman as well as photographer.

50

Light as a featherClochard Gabriel’s happiest moment of life is when he makes the swan dance with the magic white feather that plays wonderful music. One day the wind blows the feather away and brings it to Sabina, a clumsy girl who would love to dance like a ballerina. When she finds the feather, its music takes her over, and she dances freely and discov-ers that she can even fly!But when Gabriel finds the Girl, he wants the feather back – at any price – and they both end up with their lives in danger.

About Director:Director Loa Steiner (born 1977) has a passion to tell stories – stories from the heart. Born in Bern, she studied at the F+F film school in Zürich, where she worked on several feature and short films to learn the art of filmmaking – to tell stories and cre-ate emotions with picture, sounds, music, lightning, and editing. She has produced many short films: comedies, corporate films, and music videos. Loa Steiner loves to tell stories through fantasy and with a fairytale style.

53

GerrehGerreh is a story of an immigrant woman who experiments with democracy in her new multicultural Canadianland. Young bride Yalda emigrates from her war-torn homeland Afghanistan to Canada tomarry a stranger and to live with her new family in low-income Canadian public housing. Soon,she experiments with the dream she couldn’t settle during her lifetime. As a woman, she experiencestension between her new traditional family and life in con-temporary Canada. Yalda must let go of one of these ways of life.

About Director:Fazila Amiri is a graduate of Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University (BFA, Film Studies). Hergraduate thesis films PAAIZEB and GERREH have received a Film Nova Scotia Scholarship for achievements in student filmmaking. In addition to her narrative work, Fazila has made celluloid avant-gardefilms and installations. She is currently developing her first feature film to be shot in Kabul,Afghanistan.

52

55

Aknowledgement

SlugsElla, 11 years old, doesn’t hesitate to help anyone in need, including slimy killer slugs.Determined to do nature a favor, she acci-dently puts others at risk. How far does her goodwill reach?

About Director:Maria Lundqvist, born in 1982, was raised in Halmstad. She studies psychology at Umeå University, but spends her spare time working with her own short film projects. PsychologyAnd filmmaking are Maria’s two passions. Her future goal is to find a way to professionally combine these two passions, which she believes have a lot in common.

54

Ariadna Alvarado-Betancourt is a documentary filmmaker and producer based in Kabul, Afghanistan with an extensive professional career encom-passing the fields of cultural journalism, cultural liaison, film and film festivals, Television production, performing arts, and marketing, as well as work-ing with non-profit arts and cultural organizations developing and implementing projects. She has worked for the Washington, D.C. Independent Film Festival (DFIFF) in association with the American Film Institute (AFI), the Washington, D.C Latin-American Film Festival, and the Washington, D.C. Inter-national Film Festival. Other media and cultural projects include the AmericARTE Festival with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, La Nacion USA, BBC Mundo, The Washington National Opera, The Organization of American States, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, GALA Hispanic Theatre, National Geographic, Cirque du Soleil, White Feather Films in Bollywood, The Associated Press, MGM channel, The Voice of America, and TeleSUR TV Network.

“Circus School” is her first documentary as director, script-writer and producer as part of her Master Degree in Creative Film Documentary at Universi-dad Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Barcelona, Spain. Since 2009, she has been working as a Multimedia TV/Video Producer for the United Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The work entails co-producing one Radio show and two weekly television shows with Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), and co-working with Afghan civil society on various film and media development projects. She is a member of the Washington, D.C. Women in Film and Video. Ariadna was born in Venezuela and raised between Caracas, Paris and Washington, DC.

57

Jury Committee Members

56

Born in 1964 and was master graduated from Tehran University in archi-tecture. He also completed education in script writing from BaghFerdaus College. He has been involved in film critics, documentary film making and script writing for 20 years. He has written scripts for 7 feature films as well as some TV serials and has made some short and long documen-tary films. His film scripts have been mainly women oriented.

He is a member of Iranian Script Writers Association and his film script for “Offside” directed by JaffarPanahi is one of his best works which won the first award for the best script in Durban film festival. Among his works, the script of “Be HaminSadegi” directed by Reza Mir Karimi won the award of best script in Fajr film festival and the script of “Chand RoozBaad” directed by NikiKarimi are significant. “Complete Me” a docu-mentary on an autistic child in Dubai and “Bricks and Mirrors” a long documentary on Iranian filmmakers’ imagination of Tehran are two of his documentary films.

59

Dr Sadullo Rakhimov lead researcher at the Academy of Sciences, Republic of Tajikistan. He has a graduate degree in Russian philol-ogy from Tajik National University. He is a member of the Union of Cinematographers of Tajikistan and Confederation of Unions of Cinematographers of the Commonwealth of Independent Countries and Baltica states. He has spearheaded the Tajikfilm Cinema Studio for more than a decade. He has served as Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Television and Radio at the government of Republic of Tajikistan.

He has authored a series of documentaries, books and brochures. Some of his works are; the ray of screen (2004), from the history of aesthetic views of the Tajik people (2005), The Aesthetic concepts of Zoroastrizm (2006). His articles are published in encyclopedia and other scientific periodicals in Tajikistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, France, Great Britain and Southern Korea.

Reena Mohan is a documentary film maker based in New Delhi, India. She graduated from the Film and TV Institute of India, Pune, in 1982 with a specialization in editing. Since then she has edited several features and over 50 documentaries.

She produced and directed her first award winning film “Kamlabai” in 1992. In 1995, she published a monograph of Wayward Girls and Wicked Women, on the contribution of women to the silent cinema of India.She has been a teacher for over a decade and has conducted workshops on documentary practice in leading educational institutions in India and Dubai. She is the Co-Director of the IAWRT- Asian Women’s Film Festival, organized annually by the India Chapter of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television.

Humayoun Karimpur was born in 1957 in Kabul. He finished education in painting and sculpture and was graduated from the faculty of fine arts of Kabul University in 1980.He published some short fictions in Zhowandoon magazine when he was a university student. Two of his fictions were broadcasted from Majala radio which was known for its literature programs.He left his homeland in late 1980 when there was a tragic politi-cal storm in Afghanistan and being open minded simply ended to execution. He stayed in Italy for a while after crossing differ-ent countries. He then went to Paris and stayed there as political immigrant. He worked as script writer in exile and wrote many film scripts. One of his significant scripts is “The prince of pacific”. His film “Niloofar in rain” was selected and attracted attentions in more than 14 film festivals in U.S, South America, Egypt, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Tunisia, Morocco and Indonesia.

58

61

60

Organizer Team

63

62

Music Band

Hereby, I would like to express our appreciation to those who helped the festival run. Certainly, the collaboration and helps from all our national and international organizations and individuals will effect the art and culture of the country to grow. I would like to say a big thanks to organizations and people who played very important roles in organizing the festival as below:

AHRF Donors:United Sates Embassy:• Ellis Jeffrey, Jan Hussain, Reza Yawari, Esperanza M. Tilghman and Naqeebullah Jalalzay MoviesthatMatterFoundation:• Matthea de Jong and MiraSwiss Embassy:• Pia Lignell and Mohammad Shaker Sayar

AHRF Partners:InstituteofFrance:• Guilda Chahverdi, Nouria, Golrouz and other colleaguesAfghanistanIndependentHumanRightsCommission:• Dr. Sima Samar, Musa Mahmoodi, Najeebullah Zadran Babrakzai and Mohammad MorawejAfghanFilm:• Eng. Latif Ahmadi and other colleaguesBarmakFilm:• Mr. Sediq Barmak

RoyaFilm:• Mrs. Roya Sadat and Mr. Aziz Deldar8amDaily:• Mr. Sanjar Solail and Mr. Zia Aatash Afzali SabaTVandNawaRadio:• Mr. Moqim Abdolrahimzai and other colleagues

Mr. Mamnun Maqsudi, Anna Minkiewicz, Paul Lee, Habib Mo-stafa, Shah Nasir Nusi, Yasin Negah, Akram Gizabi, Maryam Mo-hagheghi, Asad Changizi, Shokur Nazari, Sayed Hussain Hosaini, Anupama Prakash, Archana Prasad, Robin Mallick

AHRF Volunteers:Laila Haidari, Sohaila Haidari, Mr. Hassani, Eng. Sayed Habibullah Haqbeen, Hassan Fazeli, Mustafa Hashemi

Appreciation

64