* Unfortunately, the situation in Afghanistan has changed a great deal since shooting this documentary. The Taliban’s return to power and the uncertainty that continues to surround their policies around the education of girls and women throughout the country has meant that, for the time being, I have decided to remove the film to protect the subjects’ identities. *
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In a country where 85% of girls are still out of school, this is the story of two girls whose determination to receive an education led them from remote villages in central Afghanistan to study at University in Kabul. It is also the story of the teachers, families and organisations that supported them in realising their dreams.
Shot and Written by – Andrea Niada
Editor – Giacomo Gili
Original Score – Andrea Boccadoro
Sound Design – Rob Szeliga
An Afghan Education is on its festival run. To view a copy of the film, please e-mail me directly at andrea@andreaniada.com.
Official Selection
Athens International Film and Video Festival (Oscar Qualifying) (2020)
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In April 2017, I visited Afghanistan to shoot a documentary on two girls who were studying law and civil engineering at a University in Kabul.
The two girls had been able to go to school thanks to the ‘Arghosha Faraway Schools Committee‘, co-founded by Marco and Maria Rosario Niada, which has so far built thirteen schools in the province of Bamyan since 2005, including Zarin and Charde, which the girls attended.
The documentary will attempt to explore a more positive side to this war torn country, focusing on the two girls, as well as their families and teachers living in the Afghan countryside, showing their struggle against the discrimination of women mainly through education.
The Committee has been funding the construction of schools in Afghanistan for the past 12 years. They have so far funded 12 schools, attended by more than 5000 students, the majority of them girls and young women.
Aside from funding schools, the NGO also funds teacher training, build wells and libraries for the schools, and provides university scholarships to particularly talented but disadvantaged girls.
In April I went to meet two of the girls now studying at a University in Kabul, thanks to scholarships from the Arghosha Committee. We subsequently had the opportunity to meet their families and old teachers in the province of Bamiyan. By talking to them as well as the girls, we tried to understand how in a country in which discrimination against women is rampant and where the Taliban are gradually taking back an increasing amount of control, there are communities that fight for gender equality and the education of women above all else. This is a very different Afghanistan to the one we have become accustomed to seeing in the media and shows that there is still a great deal to hope and fight for.
For more information on these incredible projects, take a look here – http://www.arghosha.org/