Details of other showings: afghanstardocumentary.com. The road to liberalism and equality seems like an idea beyond reach but it is not unattainable. Maybe theyll come away with a knowledge of how much can really ride on a song. On the TV show she danced and removed her hijab while singing. In English, Dari, and Pashtun, with . Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Down 102,732 this week. After Daoud Sediqi decides to air the footage, there is outrage in the conservative Muslim community and Setara receives death threats and is evicted from her apartment. Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star. The security situation meant that, for fear of kidnap, Marking couldn't set anything up in advance. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion. Released June 26th, 2009, 'Afghan Star' stars Habib Amiri, Setara Hussainzada, Rafi Naabzada, Lima Sahar The NR movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 27 min, and received a user score of 66. HM: There are a number of irons in the fire; hopefully, one will come off! His family thought he was dead because they didn't see him for two days, but his evil plan backfired when he woke up to see his wife, son, and daughter lying dead on the floor. streaming Afghan Star? The mother and daughter duo disappear into anonymity once the show recording is over. Sorry, we Lima Sahar. Its well made. When "Silencing the Song'' picks up a year later, Hussainzada has married one of her fans and is eight months pregnant, but her life is in disarray. At: Kendall Square. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Think hard. "I want to be famous so I can sing for my people," says Rafi Nabzaada, a 19-year-old Tajik. Habib Amiri Setara Hussainzada Rafi Naabzada Hameed Sakhizada Lema Sahar: Cinematography: Phil Stebbing: Edited by: Ash Jenkins: Music by . I don't mean the film is perfect, but we do have a brilliant balance between heart-filled content and craft, considering the time and place that we were. General o Since the late 1970s, Afghan people have suffered foreign invasions, civil wars, and Taliban rule. (One interviewee simply states that she should be killed.). D: Were there overt threats to your safety? When I am performing, I am singing for the people, the feeling of freedom comes to my soul. They each wield massive followings who back their respective boys with the fervor of British football fans or our own Red Sox Nation. Great memorable quotes and script exchanges from the Afghan Star movie on Quotes.net . Mostly Islamist in outlook, the Mujahideen placed restrictions on music and outlawed women singers. She lives in hiding in Kabul, unable to return. D: Do you keep in touch with any of the subjects, or have any recent news? In early July, on the heels of the film's New York premiere, director Havana Marking discussed her experience with Documentary via e-mail. There was a warlord in the northwest who suddenly freaked out, so we had to cancel a shoot as his local militia was on the rampage there. Luckily, because we were working with Tolo TV, the local TV station that made Afghan Star, we had access to all information from their news teams. Episode 01 - Kabul Auditions. X . Did you have difficulties finding funding or partners? View rank on IMDbPro . But in Marking's documentary, you can hear a gasp of horror when Setara starts to dance. This time we got our female singer; we even went one step further, with a man and woman duetting. Afghan Star is a 2009 British documentary film following four contestants in the Afghan music competition Afghan Star. After all, the smartest people on earth rarely act like idiots. [CDATA[ For one thing, the patriarchal culture makes it unlikely that women will participate, and when a couple do, one of them, Setara Hussainzada, gets in trouble for dancing on-stage and accidentally letting her headscarf slip; not only is she removed from the show, but she has to go into hiding for her safety. Available copies. In March, shortly after leaving her job as a host on the MTV-style music program, she told radio interviewers that there were rumors someone. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. I can only hope to follow that path. Here's an article from the July 2009 Documentary Online in conjunction with the film's theatrical run in June and July. "They tried it," Marking says, "but the audience hated it.". Young women admired her. Sorry, we All user-contributed . Taking the inflammatory convergence of democracy, modernity and pop culture in a fragile "post-war" Afghanistan as its point of departure, Afghan Star is a powerful and evocative documentary, grounded in astute . Unrated. Afghan Star has a great deal of fun with the national mania for the show, watching makeshift aerials pop up across Kabul, marveling at the wealthy entrepreneur who buys 10,000 SIM cards to vote for Lima, sitting quietly by as a little girl plays Afghan Star with her (veiled) Barbie dolls. What's remarkable about Marking's film is not just the stories of these four contestants but the way it captures everyday life in Afghanistan - its street kids, the show's fans, people talking at street stalls. 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. I also heard she was engaged, which is wonderful news. It's a tough industry, and in the UK it can feel quite cutthroat. Setara hussainzada ended up being a bad man. Afghan Star soundtrack from 2009, composed by Various Artists. Director: Havana Marking. Did it lead you to other ideas or passions? After Daoud Sediqi decided to air the footage of the show, there was an outrage in the conservative muslim community. HM: There are a million different things we could have done, and a million different things that could have happened as and when we were there. Afghan Star premieres at . The second part, titled "Silencing the Fallen Afghan Star," follows the story of one of the two final female contestants, Setara, who becomes notorious for her "dance moves" and "liberal . It's also available to stream, download and buy on demand at Apple TV. . State Rep. Lima accepts her new freedoms gingerly, in contrast to the more impetuous Setara, who causes a national scandal when she dances and lets her head-covering slip during a televised performance. subject to the rules of our, THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING, Find showtimes and theaters for 'Afghan Star', Report: Warrant Issued for Roggies Bar Owner, Boston Pops Concert Move Keeps the Beach Boys, Ditches Joey McIntyre, Lawmakers pass compounding pharmacy oversight bill, Follow this list on Twitter: @BostonPopular. Would you like to receive event invitations, funding news, and other updates from the International Documentary Association? Setara said she is open-minded and wants other Afghans to be as well. He was a good friend of the president of the company that had the lawsuit with the government. We dont know for sure what happened, but we believe it was because the alarm clock setara hussainzada. I am 100 percent happy with the film, so, no, I wouldn't do anything differently. As it turns out, the set alarm clock has helped setara hussainzada kill himself in his sleep without waking the whole house. Taking the inflammatory convergence of democracy, modernity and pop culture in a fragile "post-war" Afghanistan as its point of departure, Afghan Star is a powerful and evocative documentary, grounded in astute observation and led by compelling human narratives. Music and signing, an unacceptable custom in Afghanistan, seems to be the only means to bring some peace and harmony on weekend nights in the middle of civil wars that have devastated much of the country and continues till today. [1] Contents 1 Format "Killing a person," Forogh laments, "has become as easy as killing a bird." To this day, he doesn't know who tried to kill him. For more on movies, go to www.boston.com/movienation. "But an artist has to follow the people," he says. 1 hour, 27 minutes. While one-third of Afghanistan watches, Rafi Naabzada wins the final round, becoming the Afghan Star. We just had to turn up and drink lots of tea and hope the person would agree to filming. I was determined that wouldn't happen; I knew that I was the best person to direct this film. Marking's film follows the strange odyssey of semifinalists Setara Hussainzada, . Despite its obvious artifice and uncertain future, the show has lodged itself deep in the cultural fabric by awakening something in the audience. When her head scarf slips off, she does not replace it. Were All in for Arena Reel Star. "Mumtaz, our driver, had been in prison for a week under the Taliban because he was found with a music cassette. Daoud Sediqi, who presented the first three series, once said that the show's aim was "to take people's hands from weapons to music". Here are some of the ways that logic really matters in our work. Currently in its 12th season, Afghan Star is pure delight. D: How long did you spend filming in Afghanistan? During the 1970s, Kabul had miniskirts, rock concerts and Ahmad Zahir, the Afghan Elvis - still universally popular in the country today, despite dying in a mysterious car accident in 1979. When one of the female contestants takes off her headscarf to sing, one feels a little uneasy; as an outsider, one can only guess at the true nature of the risks she is taking. could not find your e-mail or password. Because of this, it became a crime in the late 1990s todance or listen to music or to watch TV. Afghan Star. Electric Sunroof, Head Up Display & Other Features That Make The All New Hot & Techy Brezza A Hit. The movie, which won directing and audience awards at this years Sundance, follows the shows third season, launched in October 2007, and focuses on four contestants from the more than 2,000 who auditioned. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government. Afghan Star, the documentary about that TV show, is one of the most hopeful and heart-rending movies Ive seen this year. Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com. Death threats, bomb scares, battling extremists in a conservative society like Afghanistan is a daily affair. could not find your e-mail or password. The show premiered in September 2005 on Tolo TV, four years after the fall of Taliban. In my own country, I tend to decry this kind of cheap entertainment, and there's a sense in which the reactionaries have a point when they lament the invasion of foreign culture; but they offer only regression and ignorance as an alternative. And since one of the two female contestantsSetara Hussainzadais a rule breaker who goes beyond the dictates of Islamic religion (she shows her hair and . [CDATA[// >