The film's great success with audiences was in part due to the timing of its release, at a moment when Afghanistan had been catapulted into the headlines by the activities of the Taliban and the attacks of September 11, 2001
But the motion picture, directed by one of Iran's most prominent film artists, is much more than a story pulled out from the headlines It stars Nelofer Pazira, a female journalist, based in Canada, playing Nafas, who is trying to get into Afghanistan to reach her sister who lives in Kandahar Nafas's sister is threatening suicide because of the intolerable oppression of women by the Taliban
In the course of her long and dangerous journey, Nafas encounters a mixed array of Afghan people, many of them refugees An old man agrees to take her into the country disguised as his fourth wife Later she acquires a young boy, Khak (Sadou Teymouri), as her guide after he has been expelled from a religious school On the way she meets Tabib Sahid, an African-American who had come to fight the Soviets but who is now practicing medicine
"Kandahar" mixes documentary authenticity with extraordinary moments of visual strangeness ad beauty The Burka is an ever-present symbol of women's subjugation, yet underneath women wear varnished nails and lipstick, and their brightly-colored robes affirm their individuality The film placed the suffering of the Afghan people, particularly the women, on an international stage
But the motion picture, directed by one of Iran's most prominent film artists, is much more than a story pulled out from the headlines It stars Nelofer Pazira, a female journalist, based in Canada, playing Nafas, who is trying to get into Afghanistan to reach her sister who lives in Kandahar Nafas's sister is threatening suicide because of the intolerable oppression of women by the Taliban
In the course of her long and dangerous journey, Nafas encounters a mixed array of Afghan people, many of them refugees An old man agrees to take her into the country disguised as his fourth wife Later she acquires a young boy, Khak (Sadou Teymouri), as her guide after he has been expelled from a religious school On the way she meets Tabib Sahid, an African-American who had come to fight the Soviets but who is now practicing medicine
"Kandahar" mixes documentary authenticity with extraordinary moments of visual strangeness ad beauty The Burka is an ever-present symbol of women's subjugation, yet underneath women wear varnished nails and lipstick, and their brightly-colored robes affirm their individuality The film placed the suffering of the Afghan people, particularly the women, on an international stage