Kathleen Foster

AFGHAN WOMEN: A HISTORY OF STRUGGLE has two upcoming screenings:

AFGHAN WOMEN: A HISTORY OF STRUGGLE

Kathleen Foster’s latest film, Afghan Women: A History of Struggle, is a feature-length documentary that captures the resilience and courage of a group of remarkable women who risk their lives daily to stand up for their rights. Rare archival footage illustrates the disturbing and amazing stories of their struggle for equality, reflected in the history of this Central Asian country during the past quarter-century of political turmoil. The women shed light on the little-known story of the last battle of the Cold War that was played out on Afghan soil, and the role of the CIA in the creation of the terrorist groups that plague the world today.

The film goes inside a women's prison and records the drafting of an Afghan Women's Bill of Rights by women from across Afghanistan at a conference in Kandahar in 2003. In scenes like these, women debunk the commonly-held myth that the U.S. intervention and the fall of the Taliban brought Afghan women freedom, and expose "Operation Freedom" as a euphemism for U.S. domination of the region with its oil and gas reserves.

In its short history, Afghan Women: A History of Struggle has been very well received by the general public, generating interest even before it was completed. That attention led to several screenings, some followed by lively discussions with the audience:

Works-in-progress were screened:

• Middle Eastern Studies Association Filmfest: November 2006
• New York Arab and South Asian Film Festival: February 2007

  MESA FilmFest Coordinator Nadia Hlibka remarked, "At last, a concise, well-made documentary chronicling the history of women's struggle for their rights in Afghanistan. Excellent historic footage of pre-Taliban and Soviet-era Afghanistan. Filmmaker Kathleen Foster (Point of Attack) casts her journalistic eye to provide insight and a holistic view of the history of the Afghan women's movement."

The completed film was screened:

• Asia Society: June 2007
  
  It was followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Professor at Montclair State University; Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director of Physicians for Human Rights; Fahima Vorgetts, Director of the Afghan Women's Fund; and Kathleen Foster, Director of the film. Rina Amiri, Senior Regional Advisor to the Open Society Institute moderated the discussion.

  ASIA SOURCE Executive Summary, "Education was a recurring theme in the discussion. It was also noted, however, that the people of the world, not political leaders, who are the most important in supporting these women in their struggle This is a global issue, not just a problem that belongs to the women of Afghanistan, and their success or failure will affect women's rights movements worldwide."

• Queens Museum: September 2007

  Prerana Reddy, Director of Public Events, Queens Museum of Art: "... provides a sharp yet concise analysis on the tumultuous history of the country itself, with particular focus on the negative repercussions that US military intervention has had on women's rights in the country. Drawing a line from the Cold War to the ‘War on Terror,’ Foster challenges viewers to examine how Afghan women have continually borne the dual costs of American imperial ambitions on the one side, and the barbarity of feudal warlords on the other."

• Brecht Forum: September 2007

  Jennifer Fasulo, Assistant Producer for Joy of Resistance on WBAI 99.5 FM: "An excellent film -- important in the way that it chronicles the history of political struggle in Afghanistan and the role the US has played in bringing the fundamentalists to power."

• Brooklyn College Women's Center: November 2007

  Alex Perkins, Brooklyn College Excelsior: "The U.S. media focuses on the Iraq quagmire. Conspicuously absent is a critical analysis of what U.S. hegemony has done to Afghanistan. However, in her powerful film Afghan Women: A History of Struggle, Kathleen Foster, challenges this image of the U.S as a benevolent nation that has liberated Afghanistan and sheds light on the seldom discussed history of human rights in Afghanistan. As a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan I appreciate the honesty that her film adds to the discourse about women's rights and U.S. Military involvement in Afghanistan.”

  Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian author: "exposes the big lie of the U.S. freeing Afghanistan... makes the connection between U.S. and Islamic fundamentalism, global and local politics, religion, money and oil.”

Afghan Women: A History of Struggle has been selected for the World Performing Art Festival in Lahore, Pakistan, November 2007.

Afghan Women: A History of Struggle is a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts.