Afghan Star

It's late 2007 and season 3 of Afghan Star, a singing contest on Afghanistan television. It attracts thousands of hopefuls and even three female singers. It would eventually be watched by as many as eleven million viewers.

It starts a little slow. It feels scattered as the movie figures out who the most interesting contestants are. The production is reasonable considering the jerry-rigged nature of Afghan Star. The most compelling story is Setara when she starts dancing after getting voted out. It is the most compelling moment in the movie. The shock of everybody around her is the jolt that elevates this movie. This is a great slice of life documentary.

I have never seen American Idol, nor am I a fan of that sort of entertainment. 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. One of the female singers loses her scarf while singing, and as a result receives threats from those who wish to kill her.

Setara is the first one voted off and besides the constant harassment from religious fanatics, she is evicted from her apartment, and puts her parent's in danger when she attempts to move back in with them.

Other singers compete to become the Afghan Star, and this should be seen by everyone to expose the narrow mindedness of theology. Thank God that here in America, we have the separation of church and state and we are free to worship any deity of our choice. The documentary proves why it is the right decision.

This is not merely about the Afghani version of "American Idol," but the effect it has on an entire country. "Afghan Star," the talent competition on TOLO, a TV station that is monitored and at times pressured by the government, is a raging success with a public that comprises disparate ethnic strains in quite discrete parts of a country that has been repeatedly fractured. Indeed, it is seen by the program's contestants as well as by many of its viewers as a more likely path to political unity than politics itself, which has been undeniably divisive. Think of how TV brought the United States together in times of tragedy. Here is shown the power of TV in a more joyous context. The contestants in this documentary seem to be stand-ins for a political message; with the exception of Setara, a young woman who is willing to challenge the mores of her home district, we don't learn very much about their individual backgrounds. The footage of the country, however, is fascinating, both the recent views as well as those from a few decades ago, when Afghanistan looked more like an American city of the 50s. The film is gripping even as it educates those who may have no familiarity with a Third World tribal culture struggling within to resist or reclaim the push toward modernity.

Afghan Star is an interesting, fun, sad documentary taking the audience to the reality in Afghanistan beyond war. I loved the texture behind the "Afghan Star" show theme in the documentary which reveals the multi-culture, values and perspectives of people in Afghanistan; pressure of Taliban; transformation of the country in years; and the universal feelings beyond society in an entertaining way. War and pressure is still in the air. Tanks are part of the screen shots, showing up in the corners, just to remind war despite the pop culture, gripping people's minds and feelings to escape the reality they live in. Great case study on pop culture!

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,and the resulting take over by the Taliban in the early 1980's , the Afghan people suffered the loss of their culture (music,dance & most everything that represents joy was taken away by the religiously overwrought Taliban). Flash forward to several years later,where the country was (somewhat)liberated from the Taliban,certain aspects of Afghan culture made a comeback (television & radio stations began to pop up through out the country,as well as the ban lifted on most music). A new form of entertainment began to appear on Afghan TV. That show was 'Afghan Stars',patterned somewhat after American Idol, where contestants vied for public exposure,singing their songs before an adoring public. Havana Marking directs a well put together documentary dealing with the contestants (four of them,three men & one woman),and their hopes & dreams. Along the way,we see the trials & tribulations of trying to make a career out of music in a society that still hasn't quite shaken off the brutal dictatorship of the Taliban (some women still wear Burkah's,possibly out of fear that the Taliban could make a comeback at any given moment),not to mention government sanctioned censorship (we see one female contestant deal with governmental,as well as societal scorn over her choosing to dance during her performance on Afghan Stars,as well as her head scarf being removed and considered exposing too much of her hair---go figure). This is a documentary that will cause rage among some (especially those who are watchdogs for human rights concerns). As this documentary is shot on HD video,rather than film stock,distribution will be somewhat limited to cinemas that are equipped for that format. Spoken in Pashtu & Dari with English subtitles & English. Not rated by the MPAA, it serves up a rude word or two,and some harrowing descriptions of brutal treatment by the Taliban.