(One interviewee simply states that she should be killed.). What was your vision? Afghan Star, which opened June 26 in New York through Zeitgeist, opens July 17 in Washington, DC, and July 24 in Los Angeles. Entertainment is a risky business in Afghanistan. But what we see in this film is how strikingly, and tragically, Afghanistan has moved backwards in the intervening years; and how a latent national enthusiasm for having fun is pitched against a deep set religiosity, sometimes within the same individuals. He was dead, but he got up before the whole family. Details of other showings: afghanstardocumentary.com. I have no idea if he was a good person that had something to do with his life or if he was a bad person that had something to do with his death. Afghan Star (2009) Directed by Havana Marking Genres - Culture & Society , Film, TV & Radio , Music | Sub-Genres - Social History , Social Issues , Politics & Government | Release Date - Jun 26, 2009 (USA - Limited) | Run Time - 87 min. When the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, they restored order but put a total ban on music and TV. Daoud Sadiqi, the affable host and emcee, waves the Taliban away with a snap of his fingers and calls contestants--dancing or not--"just characters I can make a better culture with." Kabuls Hameed Sakhizada and Rafi Naabzada, from Mazar-i-Sharif, are both young and pretty, westernized without being Western. When you are singing, you are really full of life, says one before begging her not to stop. Episode 02 - Mazar Auditions. The security situation meant that, for fear of kidnap, Marking couldn't set anything up in advance. "We were incredibly lucky," says director Havana Marking, whose vivid documentary focuses on four contestants. Quantico, where Marines train before Afghan tours. But as much as I like to think of myself as a rationalist, I think that logic is just as important as any other tool in our arsenal. The results are sadly lackluster, even if the concept and the intent are admirable. // ]]]]> She should be killed, says one passerby filmed by Marking. Afghan Star. One of the female singers loses her scarf while singing, and as a result receives threats from those who wish to kill her. They'll see how much can really ride on a song. "I believe there is no difference between a woman and a man," she declares. All user-contributed . Sediqi travelled to Sundance to promote the documentary, and never came back. The reaction of the man in the street? For the final telecast, 11 million viewers - a third of the country - tuned in, and the film understands that while voting for a singer by cellphone may be one of the sillier forms of democracy, its still an immensely powerful one for people whove long lacked a voice. National unity is another common topic - and there is no Simon Cowell-style humiliation. Ghazal Music Audition - Afghan Star Season 15, Mahali Music Audition - Afghan Star Season 15, Pop Music Audition - Afghan Star Season 15. Suicide Bomb Hits Afghan Capital Days Before Security Talks. Afghan Star the show and the documentary moved on, but the director stuck around to witness the fallout on its most controversial performer. Havana Markings 2009 documentary Afghan Star captured the drama as it unfolded, with the singers attracting massive followings in their home provinces and elsewhere and the two women contestants, Hussainzada and Lema Sahar, becoming cultural flashpoints. Thats simply a case of cultural difference and is beside the point of the film, which is to examine the possibility of a show like this cutting through the regional and tribal differences of the contestants and the people voting for them. The following are edited excerpts from that conversation. But its just a little too flat-footed as filmmaking to suck you completely in. Every so often, the neighbors call the police; at one point, 40 armed soldiers turn up at her door. I chose to go first to the Channel 4 BritDoc Foundation, which gives development funding for feature docs and nurture new talent. Sahar, the more demure of the two, kept well within expectations of how Afghani women should perform in public. Setaras parents' house in Herat was daubed with words like whore on the door. I am 100 percent happy with the film, so, no, I wouldn't do anything differently. Instead, its just sort of there. Hameed is a classically-trained musician from the Hazara ethnic communty, which is a Persian Shi'ite group from central Afghanistan that has frequently suffered at the hands of its more populous neighboring communities. The shows judges drive around in armoured vehicles. The final was watched by 11 million people, a third of the Afghan population, all voting for their favourite singer by mobile phone; for many, it was their first taste of democracy. Afghan Star yearns for a divided country to be brought together by the most primal joy of all, yet by the final scenes Setara has been forced into hiding, and since the films release Lima has fled to Pakistan as well. In Havana Marking's "Afghan Star," "Pop Idol" comes to Kabul. What is this country that youngsters cannot make their voices heard, she despairs. Go directly to shout page. At: Kendall Square. Introducing Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawwali Group, Rococo: Travel, Pleasure & Madness (Original Soundtrack), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Not the slickest or most crowd-pleasing performance-competition docu, but it's nonetheless absorbing. Start the wiki, Javascript is required to view shouts on this page. . Rating: Unrated. Afghan Star was directed by Havana Marking and is distributed by Zeitgeist Films. The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Official Sites, View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. The show's. NATO routinely cites the incident as proof that Afghans can protect their own. Subscribe to Indiatimes and get handpicked updates based on your interests! In these difficult times, one entrepreneurial broadcast company, Tolo, has inaugurated Afghan Star, . D: Are there any other filmmakers in particular from whom you draw inspiration? AFGHAN STAR. This documentary about the Afghani version of American Idol is good and worth a look, but I was never swept up by it emotionally. Production: Zeitgeist Films. Except when it comes to Forogh, it seems. Afghan Star is a Middle Eastern version of that program, with the difference being that in a Muslim culture, the contestants are in a real life and death struggle every day between the secularists and the devout. The best I can say is that he was a very talented and ambitious journalist who was a good friend of the president of his former company during the lawsuit.
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