Review by mbrcf

The film is about a kid named Qodratullah who is forced to live in an orphanage by the pro-Soviet government of Afghanistan in 19189 Kabul. As soon as he arrives in the orphanage which is around 10-15 minutes in, the director lifts her focus and camera from the kid and tries instead to capture every elements in that place such as the kids, the dorms, the teachers and supervisers and so on.

This film is made based on unpublished diaries of Mr. Anwar Hashimi who also stars in this film and he lived in such a place for 8 years when he was a teenager. As a result, the main focus and star of this film is the mentioned orphanage and director Shahrbanoo Sadat reflects on Afghans culture and the country's political state at that time period as a subplot to the life in the orphanage.

The filmmakers have done their best to give us a human, sans cliche film and they have pretty much succeeded doing so. If you've got a chance to see this piece, don't miss it.