Afghanistan Unveiled 2003
Distributed by Women Make Movies, 462 Broadway, New York, NY 10013; 212-925-0606
Produced by Florent Milesi
Directed by Brigitte Brault and Aina Women Filming Group
VHS, color, 52 min.
College - Adult
Journalism, Middle Eastern Studies, Women's Studies
Date Entered: 11/03/2004
Reviewed by Margaret M. Reed, Riley-Hickingbotham Library, Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, ARTechnically simplistic but emotionally powerful, Afghanistan Unveiled is a cathartic journey of young Afghan women journalists who document the misery and hope among the forgotten of their country.
Traveling outside of the capital city of Kabul for the first time in their lives, the journalists who produced this film are astonished by the disparity that dominates the outlying areas of Afghanistan. They go to remote places inhabited by ethnic minorities who bore the brunt of the Taliban’s wrath. The images are so gripping and the stories so horrifying that the journalists cannot contain their own feelings at times. The terrain is harsh and the infrastructure almost nonexistent. Some of the locations they visit, however, show signs of recovery – equal status for women, moderate religious beliefs, and economic growth.
Having won critical acclaim at a number of national and international film festivals, Afghanistan Unveiled premiered on the Public Broadcasting Service’s Independent Lens series.
Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.