"Afghan Star" is a TV show modeled on the UK's "Pop Idol." We join the 2008 contest when it's down to nine contestants, and we focus on two women, Setara and Lema, and two men, Hameed and Rafi. We watch the two women in particular: Satara sings with emotion and includes dance in her final performance, an action that puts her life in danger; Lema is traditional, but her very appearance brings death threats. The three finalists are from different tribes, and each makes a plea f... (Full plot summary below)
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"Afghan Star" is a TV show modeled on the UK's "Pop Idol." We join the 2008 contest when it's down to nine contestants, and we focus on two women, Setara and Lema, and two men, Hameed and Rafi. We watch the two women in particular: Satara sings with emotion and includes dance in her final performance, an action that puts her life in danger; Lema is traditional, but her very appearance brings death threats. The three finalists are from different tribes, and each makes a plea for Afghan unity. The camera visits families watching the competition, there are comments from people in the street, and we return home with a nervous Setara. In Afghanistan, singing is an expression of freedom.
Leave your thoughts about Afghan Star.
| Spirituality and PracticeFrederic and Mary Ann BrussatAn extraordinary documentary about an American Idol-like TV show that manages to capture the volatile mix of history, religion, and pop culture in contemporary war-torn Afghanistan. |
| San Francisco ChronicleJonathan CurielLike The Kite Runner novel and movie, the documentary Afghan Star succeeds at dramatizing the lives of Afghans, but those we see on screen are real flesh-and-blood characters -- people who let their true feelings emerge. |
| New York TimesStephen HoldenThe movie uses the talent show Afghan Star as a prism through which to examine the fragmented tribal culture of Afghanistan as reflected in the backgrounds of four finalists (two of them women) and the public responses to their performances. |
| Boston GlobeTy BurrOne of the most hopeful and heart-rending movies I've seen this year. |
| Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaHavana Marking's excellent, illuminating film follows four Afghan Star finalists over the frenetic final months leading to the Moment of Truth. |
| Film-Forward.comNora Lee MandelEntertaining and pointed, reveals the cultural, political, and social power of an old-fashioned televised talent show in a country where voting is a newfangled notion. |
| Financial TimesNigel AndrewsHavana Marking's uproarious, awareness-raising documentary tells us more about the title country than a month of newscasts. |
| Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJudging from this film, a pop cultural resurgence in Afghanistan seems ultimately unstoppable, even with a resurgent Taliban, if for no other reason than that 60 percent of the population is under 21. Also, this is a country, as we see again and again, that loves to sing. |
| MovieFreak.comSara Michelle FettersIt's hard not to look at the effect this program is having on the country and not come away thinking military might isn't the solution a lot of those in power would like us to believe it is. |
| Boston PhoenixLance GouldDirector Havana Marking's work is quite moving, particularly when it follows two of the three women who compete with nearly 2000 male applicants for the title. |
