afghanistan – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE DELIVERY LINE (Hot Docs 2026) – Review by Rachel West

April 30, 2026May 7, 2026 Rachel West afghanistan, colombia, documentary, Hot Docs, mexico, midwives, Nance Ackerman, nigeria canada, The Delivery Line

Pregnancy and childbirth are often joyous, but they can also be marked by stress, health risks, and uncertainty— especially for those facing poverty, crime, climate change, war, and migration. For many, midwives are the ones guiding them through it. In The Delivery Line, director Nance Ackerman profiles five midwives working on the frontlines, from makeshift tents on the US-Mexico border to remote villages in Afghanistan. The film is an unflinching yet compassionate look at the realities of giving birth around the world. It follows five women who support and advocate for their communities. Blending traditional and modern practices, they bring care and dignity to some of the most challenging environments.

Festivals Reviews

AMERICAN SONS (SXSW 2025) – Review by Leslie Combemale

March 15, 2025March 15, 2025 Leslie Combemale afghanistan, American Sons, Andrew James Gonzalez, Andrew St. Cyr, Angel Rios, Corporal JV Villarreal, documentary, marines, PTSD, SXSW 2025, Ty Klinman

San Antonia filmmaker Andrew James Gonzalez debuted his documentary American Sons at SXSW 2025, a film that follows a close-knit group of Marines still mourning and processing their experiences of their deployment to Afghanistan. These men are connected by their shared trauma, and the loss of their friend, Corporal JV Villarreal. This documentary is a tough watch. These men are undergoing trauma on a daily basis, and even the support of other vets can feel like a bandaid on a gaping wound. There are other films about vets returning home, but this one is, in every moment, personal. It allows the viewer to see the struggle these men experience, the loss and trauma they have to try to process day by day, in a very immediate way.

Reviews

RULE BREAKERS – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

March 1, 2025March 1, 2025 Valerie Kalfrin afghanistan, Bill Guttentag, Nikohl Boosheri, Nina Hosseinzadeh, Noorin Gulamgaus, robotics competitions, Roya Mahboob, Rule Breakers, taliban, Yekta Heidari

When it resumed control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban among other things banned girls from learning past the sixth grade. This mention in the epilogue of Rule Breakers casts a bitter shadow over this family drama meant to celebrate the power of knowledge. Set largely between 2017 and 2019, Rule Breakers dramatizes the story of real-life Afghan entrepreneur Roya Mahboob, who after launching her own software company formed a high school girls’ robotics team, defying her country’s gender norms and traditions. Despite pushback from some relatives and political tensions, the girls earned medals in robotics competitions around the world.Rule Breakers has its heart in such the right place that it’s hard not to root for its characters and its positive message of brain power. The film is most enjoyable at the competitions, where organizers note how technology unites people beyond politics and the girls meet other youths who light up with the same excitement over science.

Festivals Reviews

THE SHARP EDGE OF PEACE (Hot Docs 2024) – Review by Liz Braun

April 24, 2024April 28, 2024 Liz Braun afghanistan, documentary, Fatima Gailani, Fawzia Koofi, gender apartheid, Habiba Sarabi, Hot Docs 2024, Roya Sadat, Sharifa Zurmati, The Sharp Edge of Peace

The Sharp Edge of Peace is an infuriating documentary about Afghanistan. The film concerns the attempts made by women leaders and others to restore women’s rights in Afghanistan via negotiations with the Taliban. It opens with footage of peace negotiator Fawzia Koofi in hospital, as she has just survived an assassination attempt. Koofi is one of four women chosen to be part of the Afghan government’s negotiating team as the country attempts to recover its footing after the withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops, and the rise of the Taliban.

Reviews

FLEE – Review by Martha K Baker

January 27, 2022January 29, 2022 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) afghanistan, animation, documentary, Flee, homosexuality, Jonas Rasmussen

In an unusual but appropriate twist, FLEE has been considered for an Oscar in three categories: animation, documentary, and international feature. FLEE triumphs on these tripartite bases as not only an innovative work of animation but also a document of the life of a refugee.

Festivals Reviews

WITH THIS BREATH I FLY (Austin Film Fest 2021) – Review by Diane Carlson

October 6, 2021October 10, 2021 Diane Carson >With This Breath I Fly, afghanistan, austin film festival 2021, Clementine Malpas, documentaries, Sam French

The oppressed legal status of women in Afghanistan is well known and even more distressing with the recent Taliban takeover. Providing important insights, in particularizing the experiences of two Afghan women, directors Clementine Malpas and Sam French add alarming details to that more general understanding of exactly what this lived legal, cultural subjugation means and the ways even the European Union supports that inequitable system.

Reviews

ROCKABUL (OXFF2020) – Review by Lois Alter Mark

April 3, 2020April 3, 2020 Lois Alter Mark 0 Comments afghanistan, district unknown, documentaries, OXFF2020, rockabul, travis beard

Rock and roll has always been about rebellion, but RocKabul, a documentary about a heavy metal band in Afghanistan, takes that idea to a whole new level. What makes the story so riveting is that these guys literally risk their lives to play their music.

Interviews Women on Film

AWFJ Women On Film – Sebastian Junger Talks About “Restrepo” – Tricia Olszewski interviews

July 1, 2010 Tricia Olszewski afghanistan, awfj women on film, restrepo, sebastian junger, tim hetherington, war documentaries

Consider “Restrepo” a real-life version of “The Hurt Locker.” With the tagline “One platoon, one year, one valley,” the documentary