BENEATH THE BORQA IN AFGANISTAN

Year Released: 2002 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 12 minutes Click to Expand Credits: Directed by lara Lee

Documentarian Lara Lee turns her camera on Orzala Ashrafi who returns to her native Afghanistan after more than a ten-year absence. Through interviews with Ashrafi, we see how life has changed for women in Afghanistan under the Taliban. If an elbow shows from beneath their borqas, they can be beaten and stoned. Women are forbidden to work or seek higher education. Basic city services and infrastructure are in shambles causing rampant disease. Ashrafi’s personal journey through her old neighborhood is both moving and shocking.
Made before September 11th, this is a searing expose of conditions in Afghanistan that should be required viewing for Americans.

Posted on January 15, 2002 in Reviews by Chris Gore

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