Afghan Star

Movie: Afghan Star

I saw it on: September 5, 2009

Cast: Rafi Naabzada, Lima Sahar, Fayez Hameed, Setara Hussainzada

Genre: Documentary

Synopsis: The documentary follows Afghanistan’s version of “American Idol”.  When one of the female finalists dances while singing and accidentally dropped her shawl, all hell breaks loose.  She gets death threats and is in real danger of being killed for her “shameless” behavior.

My two cents:  Pretty interesting.  I was appalled at the treatment of this poor woman.  Men in their 20’s saying that she deserved to die for shaming her village.  The woman is still in protective custody today.  I try to be open-minded about other cultures, but I just cannot accept that a simple thing like a woman dancing while singing should be something that she should be put to death for.

My two cents: worth seeing just to remind us of how restrictive the social environment is in Afghanistan.