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In 2005, documentary filmmakers Clif Orloff and Olga Shalygin returned to
Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif for the third time since the fall
of the Taliban in 2002. Despite a growing network of Afghan friends and
colleagues from their two prior visits, they had been restricted in their
ability to meet freely with Afghan women. The all-covering burqa, the
high-walled living compounds and cultural restrictions on women limited their
access. Olga, a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, was puzzled why
virtually all the Afghan women she saw still wore the burqa... even though a
new constitution was adopted that granted women equal rights with men. This
time, Olga brought Serena, her 27-year-old stepdaughter. Serena lived for a
month as an Afghan with Hasina, a 27-year-old Afghan woman and her family.
Serena became the eyes and ears of the filmmakers. Together, Serena, Hasina and
Olga set out on a journey to learn what it means to be a woman in today’s
Afghanistan. In the process they confront their own conflicts with the culture
and traditions.
A Cliff Orloff/ Olga Shalygin film. Red Door Video Productions. 56 min.
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