Beth Murphy : 2015
A girls' school in Afghanistan is the setting for a coming-of-age story in which young girls come to grips with the realities of rigid patriarchy and cruelty in their world. Their teachers, most not much older than the students, help them confront their resulting inner turmoil and try to prepare them for what their uncertain futures bring. The students at the Zabuli Girls' School in the conservative village of Deh Subz have lived in a country at war all their lives; in a culture in which modern Western values are rejected and conservative, often oppressive, social tradition is embraced. But when Razia Jan arrives to open the village's very first girls' school, these traditions are challenged. The story of the Zabuli School unfolds at a time when the political and security situation in the country is rapidly changing. The entire region faces an uncertain fate – and for those who hoped for a more democratic, egalitarian society after the war, that fate looks increasingly ominous. Against a harrowing backdrop, the film traces the interconnected stories of students, teachers, village elders, families, and tenacious school founder Razia Jan, building a layered portrait of a community caught between its past and its future. Beth Murphy's feature-length documentary was presented in an exclusive preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival London 2015.
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