Afghan Star

Dir. Havana Marking
Afghanistan/ U.K., 2008, 88 mins.

Afghan Star documents what happens when an American Idol-type show takes place in Afghanistan after 30 years of war and Taliban rule. Filmmaker Havana Marking focuses her camera lens on the finalists of the competition – two girls and two boys – each with their own set of challenges and reasons for why they should win, in this music-filled, celebratory documentary.

The film opens on the first day of competition, where over 2,000 Afghan Star hopefuls have come to audition for a show whose producers hope will “move people from guns to music.” The young people auditioning are energetic and hopeful in the show’s democratic process, speaking to the Taliban’s historical ban of music in Afghanistan. One of the show’s frontrunners, 21-year old Setara is particularly outspoken and progressive, wearing makeup, dancing onstage (which is vehemently prohibited) and professing her love for music. However, when Setara lets her headscarf slip while performing on stage, she is publicly attacked and must go into hiding with her family.

Afghan Star takes North American audiences into the private world of public TV. Marking trots a fine balance between communicating Afghan youth’s desire for change and democracy while showing the great dangers of expressing these thoughts and the chaos that ensues from such a show. The film was the winner of the World Cinema Documentary Director and Audience Awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.