Choices, Inc. Releases Acclaimed Documentary Daughters of Afghanistan

Journalist Sally Armstrong investigates the reality for women in modern Afghanistan and the tremendous obstacles that must still be overcome.

(PRWEB) October 2, 2004 - Choices, Inc. www.choicesvideo.net is pleased to announce the release of the critically acclaimed documentary Daughters of Afghanistan. There has been widespread reporting on the oppressive treatment of women in Afghanistan in the last few years. After the fall of the Taliban, Afghan women hoped that their living nightmare was over and so did the world. Unfortunately, generations of neglect and second-class status dont vanish with the current political winds.

Canadian journalist Sally Armstrong was one of the first to write about the plight of women of Afghanistan during the Talibans regime. She was anxious to return to find out what happened to the women whose lives had influenced hers so powerfully. This documentary is about that search.

Daughters of Afghanistan follows the lives of four women and one young girl as they pursue their dream of liberation. It begins in the spring of 2002, with the remarkable Dr. Sima Samar, a woman who thumbed her nose at the Taliban and risked death by keeping her schools for girls and health clinics for women open when they demanded she close them. As Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women's Affairs in the new government, she takes us inside the corridors of power where she's walking a tightrope in her quest to free the women and girls of Afghanistan. We also meet Soghra, whose harrowing tale to survive is inspiring and shocking; Hamida, a gutsy school principal who is determined to lead her students to victory by way of jobs in every government office; and Camellah, the quintessential Afghan woman, who knows instinctively that the rules of her country make her a sex slave to her husband. And finally, Lima, a blameless young girl who has already lost her childhood to the war that ravished her village.

Six months later, Armstrong returns to find out how Sima, Soghra, Hamida, Camellah and Lima are faring. After all, the international community had promised them their lives would be better, but can this experiment in emancipation work? By October 2002, Sima Samar has not only lost her job in the interim government, but fundamentalists have issued a Fatwa against her calling for her execution, and are describing her as the Salmon Rushdie of Afghanistan." Armstrong reveals how the tides of change have washed a startling collection of wins and losses into these womens lives. Their stories are revealing, uplifting, heartbreaking, empowering and frightening.

Daughters of Afghanistan is directed by Robin Benger, produced by Barbara Barde and Linda Stregger and written by Sally Armstrong and Robin Benger.

Choices, Inc. specializes in the acquisition and distribution of specialized feature films and documentaries as well as the World Almanac Video label.

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