>> Catalog 2025

Shot the Voice of Freedom

شلیک به صدای آزادی

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AFGHANISTAN / 2024 / Dari / Color / DCP / 70 min

Director, Script, Producer: Zainab Entezar
Editing: Mohamad Samipour
Sound: Mehrdad Jelokhani
Production Company: Lumier Film
Source: Zainab Entezar

When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they stripped women of their freedom—suspending girls’ higher education, as if to erase their very existence—and the deeply rooted patriarchy in Afghan society was further reinforced. In the midst of such desperate circumstances, women activists who stood up to reclaim their human rights hid smartphones under their scarves and continued to record their own defiance of tyranny. Even as they faced gunfire and constant danger of death, the women fought to raise their voices from within Afghanistan to the world—and the filmmaker’s camera, moving alongside them, captures their struggle with urgency. (OR)

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[Director’s Statement] I grew up witnessing the silenced voices of women in Afghanistan—voices that carried courage, pain, and the relentless desire for freedom. With this film, I wanted to preserve those voices, not as victims of oppression, but as powerful agents of change whose resistance cannot be erased by violence.

This film is not just a documentary; it is an act of memory and defiance. By blending documentary storytelling with visual poetry, I aimed to capture both the harsh reality of suppression and the unbreakable spirit of Afghan women. Every frame is a testament to their resilience, and every story is a reminder that freedom always begins with a voice—no matter how much it is threatened.

I believe cinema can serve as a space where silenced truths find resonance. Through this film, I invite the world to listen to the voices that those in power tried to destroy. My hope is that this film not only amplifies the struggles of Afghan women but also inspires solidarity across borders, so that their call for justice becomes our shared responsibility.