Afghan Star
Feature length film Completed 2008
Director
Havana Marking
Doc Society helped with
Production
Runtime: 87 minutes
Follow the film
Through the eyes of young, talented and ambitious pop hopefuls all competing to become the next Afghan Star we experience the birth of a new, optimistic Afghanistan. 10 years ago in Afghanistan if you sang, danced or even listened to music you risked imprisonment or even death. Now there is a new phenomena taking the country by storm.
Long Synopsis
Based on Pop Idol, the TV series Afghan Star has been taken to the nation's heart, allowing Afghans to rediscover their musical and artistic culture. But for many Afghans, music can still bring danger. For Lema, a courageous eighteen year old, living in the Taliban heartland of the south, to audition is to risk her life. At each broadcast her family prays for a power cut so that her neighbours won't see her sing.
Afghan Star is more than just a game show. It offers hope and inspiration to the youth of Afghanistan, lifting the people from their daily security nightmare. As the drama of the elimination rounds unfold, this film will explore the issues of gender, democracy, free press, and above all the power of music in this scarred and fragile nation.
Crew
Havana Marking
Director
Afghan Star is Havana Marking's first feature documentary, shot over 4 months in Kabul. She has produced TV docs (both factual entertainment and one-off polemics) for over 10 years now, although directing is relatively new to her: before Afghan Star she directed The Crippendales (2007) - a 30min film about the first troupe of disabled strippers winning the Channel 4@Sheffield scheme for New Talent. In 2005 she made the Great Relativity Show, a series of animated shorts (3MW) that explained the Theory of Relativity. These won a Pirelli Science award.
Previous films: The Crippendales (2007)
