And Still I Sing
Fazila Amiri
Canada, Afghanistan. 2022. 89 min

DESPITE DEATH THREATS, THREE FEMALE AFGHAN SINGERS FIGHT FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS THROUGH MUSIC.

Afghanistan’s controversial pop star and activist Aryana Sayeed mentors hopeful contestants on the hit singing TV series Afghan Star.

For 13 straight seasons, the show has featured only male winners. In 2019, this was about to change. Female singers Zahra Elham and Sadiqa Madadgar are on the verge of success as their hopes and dreams of becoming national singers begin to turn into reality.

Their lives are turned upside down when the Taliban return to power, reversing twenty years of progress for women’s rights. Amidst the fear caused by the fall of the Afghan government, each woman must make a harrowing escape from Kabul into exile while the US fully evacuates.

And I Still Sing is the first feature film by award-winning Afghan Canadian writer and director, Fazila Amiri. Amiri is an alumni of the 2021 Cannes Docs, 2020 Hot Docs Accelerator Lab and 2019 RIDM Talent Lab.

Laughing in Afghanistan
Anneta Papathanassiou
Greece. 2022. 90 min

Karim Asir, the Afghan Charlie Chaplin, wants to change the world using pantomime and humor. Amidst bombs and destruction, laughter is his only weapon. After the Taliban takeover Karim receives death threats and fears for his life. A difficult decision seems unavoidable. Can laughter change the world?

Women Beyond Bollywood
Rahila Bootwala
Canada. 2022. 53 min

India’s cinema industry is the largest in the world, and Bollywood is its flagship: stars, music, drama, not to mention rampant sexism, are its defining features. Today, a new generation of filmmakers is finally showing women as more than eye candy or appendages to larger than life male heroes. Montreal filmmaker Rahila Bootwala left India as a young woman, wanting to work in film but feeling disconnected from an industry dominated by men and beholden to their fantasies. In this empowering documentary, she goes back to India to meet with the women who are reshaping the industry.

Bangla Surf Girls
Elizabeth D Costa
Canada, Bangladesh. 2021. 86 min

Shobe, Aisha and Suma break away from the drudgery of their lives by joining a surf club in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The girls fight family pressure and social judgement, for a few hours on the waves each day and gain confidence as their natural skill and prowess gains attention and praise. The joy and freedom of the waves are a stark change from the abuse and hardship they face at home. Soon they are poised to make history as Bangladesh’s first women surfers. However the fate of the club itself hangs on the leadership of the coach who has his own challenges. The odds stack up but the girls refuse to give up. .Balancing the freedom of the waves with the restrictive realities of their circumstances, we experience the thrill and struggle of coming-of-age in a developing country.