Vancouver, Abbotsford and Surrey from October 31 to November 4.
6 Films From Afghanistan in SAFF.
Films selected:
1. Playing the Taar by Roya Sadat
Ay Nabaat is a 17 year old girl from the Turkmen ethnic minority in Afghanistan. She has been weaving carpets at home since her childhood. Her father is engaged in a hostile and bloody war with another ethnic group which has gone on for many years. Finally, in order to stop the hostility he decides to give Ay Nabaat to a man from the other ethnic group—a man who already has three wives. Ay Nabaat gets pregnant but her new husband is still intent on revenge. He declares the child illegitimate. She is forced out by her husband, and thrown out of the house by her father. She is abandoned by all and ultimately gives birth to her child, all alone in an abandoned and ruined shelter.
Turkemens are the minority group in Afghanistan with their own customs and traditions. Women are the main victims in every transaction, in that men regularly exchange and trade women to settle disputes, and as barter.
2. Half Value Life by Alka Sadat
A girl listening to the radio from home, a woman walking to her workplace. The camera follows their steps in a parallel format, focuses on the mirror they look at, observes them putting on lipstick. We are suddenly in a courtroom; many abused women are telling their stories. Is anybody listening? On television, the report of a terrorist attack, outside, in the city.
Mrya Basher is the first woman in Afghanistan to have become a senior Provincial Investigating Officer, a highly positioned woman who works tirelessly for mistreated and abused women. By actively supporting abused women in her society, she puts her personal life in serious danger. During the filming of Half Value Life, Mrya Basher’s home was bombed, attesting to her remarkable courage.
3. House Number.111 by Aziz Deldar
Basir is a young Afghan man, raised in Europe, with little knowledge of his home land. He is asked by his mother to return to Afghanistan in order to sell the family home. He is very uncomfortable in Afghanistan and dismayed when he sees the condition of the house. Despite his mother’s protestations, he takes a trip to the northern-most region of the country and finds himself falling in love with Afghanistan. Basir ultimately decides not to sell the family home, but instead to rebuild it, and make it his home.
4. Good Morning Grandma by Ghafar Faizyar
Good Morning Grandma is a story about a young boy who lost his mother at birth. A few years later his father was killed in a bomb blast which he survived, but suffered the loss of his hearing. The child now lives with his Grandmother, a woman too old and weak to work. He tries to accept the responsibility of supporting the two of them and one day decides to sell the last remaining items which belonged to his father—his books. The boy is unused to the ways of the world, and finds that nobody is interested in buying the books.
5. Barefoot by Raz Mohammad Dalili
Barefoot is set in war-ravaged Afghanistan and follows the poignant story of a young Afghan boy who has a passion for football. He has lost his parents to a terrorist attack in Kabul and now lives with his younger sister and grandmother. He makes his living selling water and cold drinks. Life is hard for him as he is subjected to social discrimination at school and in the community. However, the local football coach develops a fondness for the boy and nurtures his passion for football. The boy's skill on the field not only brings joy to his teammates but also leads to an opportunity for him to play at an international event, The Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, Australia. The film closes with a rare moment of sporting pride for Afghans: a title win and a grand return home.
6. Photographer of Image-less City by Khalid Rajabi
Ali lives in Kandahar, a city dominated by the Taliban. During the war people were not allowed to take photographs, but now Ali decides to photograph his city and the people. He soon begins to teach photography classes to young men and women—in his attempt to bring peace and unity to Kandahar. Finally, he is ready to hold a photographic exhibition presenting his work and the work of his students. Ali is recognized for his work by the Governor of Kandahar.
For the first time in Canada, SAFF presents a collection of recent Feature, Short, Documentary and Animated films from the South Asian Family of Nations: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and the Maldives.
SAFF Canada Co-Founder and Artistic Director Hannah Fisher is a former Executive Director of the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). She has contributed to many major international festivals, including the Dubai International Film Festival, the OFF PLUS CAMERA Festival of Independent Cinema, Krakow, Poland, and the Kolkata International Film Festival. Hannah utilizes her many years of experience, relationships, contacts and passion for South Asia, in the development of SAFF Canada.
The Festival provides a platform for superb cinematic programs from South Asia, and opportunities for professional networking between Canadian and South Asian film artists, via the collaboration of BC Film + Media, the Directors Guild of Canada-BC, the Canadian-BC Film and TV Production Association, and Hungama Mumbai.
SAFF Canada honours and reflects the diversity of cultures, and the passion for Cinema that is such a potent force throughout all of South Asia. SAFF Canada engages the dynamic cross-generational South Asian communities of British Columbia and the rest of Canada and the World.
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