When Kabul fell to the Taliban, returning Afghanistan to the fundamentalist group’s control, women who did not flee faced a reality in which they could no longer be who they are: journalists deleted evidence of their work, artists destroyed their creations, and graduates set fire to their degrees.
But some chose to fight back. Their defiance, and the dangers that have come with it, are vividly captured in a documentary that follows three women in real time as their lives become undone by the Taliban’s return. There’s Zahra Mohammadi, 33, a newly married dentist whose practice quickly transforms into a meeting space for fellow activists. There’s Taranom Seyedi, 39, a women’s-rights activist who is forced into exile in neighboring Pakistan. And there’s Sharifa Movahidzadeh, 31, a government employee who is confined to her home.
