HBO’s “Love Crimes of Kabul”

July 11, 2011 By

Love Crimes of KabulHBO is set to air “Love Crimes of Kabul” at 9pm tonight as part of their documentary films summer series. This intimate documentary goes inside Badam Bagh, a women’s prison in Kabul, Afghanistan, to tell the stories of three women who are being accused of committing “love crimes” or more commonly termed, “moral crimes”.

Among the prison’s 125 female prisoners, those who are there for “moral crimes,” are accused of things that, in most societies, would be termed rebellious at worst. These women, therefore, find themselves at a complex intersection between religion and the law, where the application of rules is often ambiguous and where marriage can make the difference between freedom and imprisonment.

The documentary follows three of such women prisoners accused of “moral crimes”. The first is Kareema, a 20-year-old woman whose crime is having premarital sex with her fiancé.  The second woman is 23-year-old Aleema, who is accused of running away from her home. The third and youngest woman of the three is Sabereh, who is accused of having premarital sex with a boy she is in love with.

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Filed Under: Politics, Television Tagged With: , , ,

Wishing Upon an Afghan Star

January 26, 2011 By

The images that Afghanistan conjures are usually ones that mirror front-page stories of newspapers around the world: armed Taliban crouching at the entry of a mountain cave, women in burqas, and images of public stonings are just a few that are constantly associated with the country.

HBO is schedule to air a two-part documentary that paints a broader picture of Afghanistan and its women. The first part titled, “Afghan Star,” named for Afghanistan’s first televised singing competition, follows the final contestants—two of which are women—as they come closer to becoming the first “Afghan Star.”

The second part, titled “Silencing the Fallen Afghan Star,” follows the story of one of the two final female contestants, Setara, who becomes notorious for her “dance moves” and “liberal” attitude while on Afghan Star. This part focuses on Setara’s life after she is eliminated from the competition.

This documentary portrays Afghan women as anything but a homogenous group, unlike the futile efforts of mainstream media to depict these women accurately. The film strays from the overused and stereotypical representation of Afghan women as victims (either cognizant or unaware of their victimization). Specifically, it doesn’t present them as victims of religion or of Afghan men in general, while still providing a space for frank and honest discussions regarding problems of governance and social injustice that seem to prevail in certain parts of Afghanistan.

Although there are only two female contestants in the documentary and a handful of other females, from fans to female relatives of the two contestants, viewers can get a glimpse of the diversity of Afghanistan’s women. We see women on film with hijab, niqab, burqa or completely unveiled. Each wears a different style of clothing, ranging from jeans and t-shirts to bright blue burqas to colorful shilvar kamis, (tunic and pant combination). Most of the women are from different ethnic groups and different regions of Afghanistan, which plays a big role in determining what is considered to be “appropriate” dress. This fact is reiterated throughout the documentary in its portrayal of the divergent dress and attitudes of the two female contestants, Lema and Setara.

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Filed Under: Music/Radio, Politics, Television Tagged With: , , , , ,

For Neda: HBO Documents the 2009 Iranian Elections

June 21, 2010 By

As I snuggled on the couch to watch HBO’s documentary on Neda Agha-Soltan, I knew this wasn’t the time for popcorn. The first images that splashed across the screen were Agha-Soltan’s infamous last moments, which haunted viewers around the world exactly a year ago. The tone of onlookers and loved ones was agonizing, screaming as they crowded around her body, placing their hands over the bullet hole in her chest. As blood began to gush from her mouth and nose, Agha-Soltan’s eyes remained open. It was only a few moments before she died, but the video burned a memory in the hearts of many that will perhaps last for years to come.

The images of Agha-Soltan’s last moments were perhaps the most impressing images of the brutality and violence that unfolded after last year’s Iranian elections. Cell phone cameras and digital cameras became the weapon of choice for many of Iran’s population. They wanted to show the world the injustice they were suffering at the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

HBO’s documentary For Neda delves into the life of Agha-Soltan to answer the questions of who she was, what she stood for, and why she died. The documentary elicits the testimony of Agha-Soltan’s family and recognized names such as Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, and Dr. Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian history at University of St. Andrews. The familiar voice of Shohreh Aghdashloo, an Iranian actress, narrates Agha-Soltan’s tale of courage. (Note: the trailer below contains explicit images of her death)

For Neda provides a limited understanding of the socio-political landscape of Iran and elicits only the testimony and experiences of those with a particular angle. The story of Neda Agha-Soltan was used here to paint a particular picture of Iran seen from the eyes of a certain kind of woman–a woman like Agha-Soltan.

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Filed Under: Politics, Technology/Science Tagged With: , , , , ,