In Her Hands: un destin afghan

What can you possibly say about a country governed by religious zealots who lied and continue to lie to their own people? "We will let girls go to school. We will return women their rights!" Lies! They have killed and jailed women who protest against them. The Taliban are small minded weak men who think religion is more important than humanity. They have no humanity.

Zarifa Ghafari at 26 was mayor of a city outside of Kabul in such a climate. The Taliban called her immoral because she dared to help her fellow citizens both male and female. She paid a huge price, the Taliban assassinated her father. Her driver is also featured, Massoum, a courageous and thoughtful man, the father of a baby daughter. He wants change. He is devoted to Zarifa and is disappointed when she gives up her job as mayor and is unable to keep him as a driver. The State Department has rigid rules. He is unemployed, despondent but not so desperate that he joins the Taliban.

When the US troops finally evacuate, Zarifa and most of her family are able to leave and become refugees of Germany. I can't blame her for leaving. It is a desperate situation. As her driver had declared, the Afghan government begged other countries for money and put it in their pockets!" Greed is a tragedy that has caused much suffering. Afghanistan is a hell. Still to my utter amazement Zarifa goes back to set up a school and try and educate those who will listen that education is the only way out. She thinks a woman president is the answer. Perhaps in time she will be that woman.

She is a courageous woman who fancy Afghan dresses and gives speeches about women and Afghanistan. She worked as a mayor in the previous government. Here are the lies that were told in this documentary: 1. She is not even the second female mayor in Afghanistan.

2. Her father was not killed by Taliban for her activism and involvement with the government. Unfortunately he was killed for some personal matters.

3. She misrepresents the women of Afghanistan to the conferences. She talks and acts in the way that everything is fine for women in Afghanistan.

4. Unfortunately she built her fame and legacy by betraying women in Afghanistan just for the sake of her ethnicity.

It is a shame that women betray women.

As "In Her Hands" (2022 release; 93 min) opens, it is August 15, 2021, as the Taliban overtake Kabul. We encounter a woman in distress, as she tells her husband "Either we go together, or we won't go at all". We then go to "January 2020. 19 Months Before The Fall of Kabul", and are introduced to the woman from the movie's opening scene. Turns out to be Zafari Ghafari, at 26 yo the youngest mayor in Afghanistan of a place called Maida Wardek, about 40 km away from Kabul. "Drop the weapon and take a pen", she encourages a crowd. She is "all in" on women's rights to education (among other things). The Taliban has issued death threats against her (of course!). At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by award-winning German director Marcel Mettelsiefen, who apparently embedded with Zarifa Ghatari for 2 1/2 years to bring us the extraordinary look at the life and times of people in Afghanistan, through the lens of this one brave woman, as they struggle in they day-to-day existence, dealing with never-ending threats of violence and worse from the Taliban. The movie also includes a look from within the Taliban, as we witness one of the Taliban commanders' coming and going. The documentary's last 30 minutes (when it all comes crashing down in the wake of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan) is jaw-dropping as we watch sheer misery and utter desperation. (Apparently it never leads anyone within the Taliban to wonder as they install a new order of terror which they claim is the "righteous" way of life, why millions of Afghans tried to flee the country in the worst possible of ways.)

"In Her Hands" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September to immediate critical acclaim. The movie started streaming on Netflix earlier this week. Please note that the movie's overall rating as currently showing here on OMDb (6.3 from 77 ratings) is misleading, with most of those almost certainly from people who haven't actually seen this (Taliban trolls, I'm guessing). If you want to get a glimpse of what life in Afghanistan was like in the last 18 months or so before the fall of Kabul and its immediate aftermath, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

At 26 Zarifa Ghafari was the youngest female mayor in Afghanistan. "Men had their chance for 50 years," she says "and what did they achieve? Nothing!" This riveting and extensive documentary follows Zarifa for two years up to and including the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. With snow-capped mountains in the distance, her bodyguard with one hand on a steering wheel and the other on a rifle, the city lights of Kabul at night, and in the shadow of a gigantic ferris wheel, Zarifa is talkative, active, and buoyant even as she faces ceaseless turmoil and threats of harm to herself and her family.

In Her Hands is an emotional roller coaster that delves into seriously disturbing territory at times. Dead and maimed little girls in school are shown, the victims of an intentional Taliban attack, and a woman being forced to her knees in the center of a full stadium and executed for show. "We will witness these horrors again," says Zarifa. There are moments of happiness as well as horror, including a picture of Zarifa smiling and resting her head on her dad's shoulder.

One reason that In Her Hands is so fascinating is that it covers real and interesting people who shed light on why Afghanistan is such a disaster. "Politicians begged for money from the world," said Zarifa "and they put it in their own pockets." People support the Taliban because of these corrupt and greedy people who, like the Taliban, misled Afghans.

Massoum, Zarifa's bodyguard, and Musafer, a commander in the Taliban, are featured in the film along with Zarifa. "I will kill people until they believe," says Musafer. He seems nice.

Zarifa was present at this Toronto International Film Festival screening. She was every bit as captivating and energizing in person as she was in the film. She wrote a new book that will be released soon. "Speak up for the girls of Afghanistan" she urged the audience, "and keep those left behind in your hearts."

The film has misrepresented all the historical facts.

Zarifa is not the first female mayor of Afghanistan.

Zarifa's father was killed in an inter-tribal conflict.

And this person is normalizing and keeping silent for the genocide of Hazaras in Afghanistan.

#StopHazaraGenocide.

We need facts that aware people around the world,and help women and people in Afghanistan .

But like this films just show the Taliban good and everything legal or nothing happen in Afghanistan ?

Although In Afghanistan, women are whipped and stoned and it is human rights violations.

So The film has misrepresented all the historical facts.