Whose Gaze? Stories Told between Kabul, Herat and Berlin

Abstract

This visual essay focuses on contemporary women’s cinema in Afghanistan, which started in 2001, when, for the first time, women made films in Afghanistan. They narrate stories from their perspectives, and choose different filmic means, characters and genres to tell their stories. With a selection of film stills and photographs, this visual essay introduces the work of these women filmmakers. The images are accompanied by text that describes the contents and the making of their films. Text includes quotations from filmmakers reflecting on their practice. The directors whose work I present are, among others, Roya Sadat, Saba Sahar, Diana Saqeb and Aiqela Rezaie. As some of the filmmakers also work as actresses, I draw an arc into the changeful history of Afghan cinema and the role women played as actresses in these films. The essay highlights the period between 2002 and 2009, when I worked in Kabul making my film Passing the Rainbow and co-organising the film festival SPLICE IN on Gender and Society.