Filmed on location in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, an Afghan woman recalls how the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to her forced displacement and marriage.
Supported by
Community Broadcast Partner
Community Partner
Fereshta Afshar
Canada
2022
In Dari with English subtitles
Gender or Sexual Discrimination
Featured in:
VIFF Short Forum: Program 3
The camera eye knows no bounds in these stories that push the limits of gravity and grace.
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Shifting Baselines
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A Poet
When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.
La Salsa Vive
An exuberant celebration of salsa that traces the genre's evolution from New York City in the 1960s and 70s to Cali, Colombia — the salsa capital of the world. Carvajal’s documentary highlights the rich legacy of this musical form and the joy it inspires.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
Can a filmmaker depict the future without AI? Damien Hauser crafts a genre-blending Afro-speculative fable about love, war, and the future of storytelling in a resurrected African kingdom. A micro-budget epic fueled by digital invention and heart.
Winter Light
Da-bin has a broke mother, a runaway brother, and a sister who’s going deaf, but gets by thanks to his best friend and caring girlfriend. Poignant and poetic, this is a film that explores the pain of adolescence and the stress of competing loyalties.
The Nonsense
Insurance investigator Yoo-na is working a case of death by drowning; her company claims suicide, but the truth is unclear. Confronting an eccentric beneficiary with great powers of persuasion, Yoo-na finds herself in a fog of doubt and suspicion.
Credits
Producer
Salar Pashtoonyar
Screenwriter
Salar Pashtoonyar
Cinematography
Parwiz Arify
Editor
Jalal Shams
Director
Salar Pashtoonyar
Salar Pashtoonyar is originally from Afghanistan and now based in Canada. As a director, his films have screened at festivals worldwide, including Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and Palm Springs International ShortFest. After growing up as a refugee due to the wars in Afghanistan, he now explores the lives of ordinary people that deal with abnormal situations. Pashtoonyar holds degrees in Film Production from Toronto Film School and York University. His film Bad Omen (2020) was nominated for Best Canadian Short at the Canadian Screen Awards, and won the Bronze Medal at the 2021 Student Academy Awards.