Cut From Different Cloth: Burqas & Beliefs
In 2005 filmmakers Cliff Orloff and Olga Shalygin returned to
Afghanistan's northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif for the third time since
the fall of the Taliban in 2002.
Despite a growing network of Afghan friends and colleagues from their
two prior visits, they had been restricted in their ability to meet
freely with Afghan women.
The all-covering burqa, the high-walled living compounds and cultural
restrictions on women limited their access. Olga, a Pulitzer
Prize-winning photojournalist, was puzzled why virtually all the Afghan
women she saw still wore the burqa...even though security had greatly
improved and a new constitution was adopted that granted women equal
rights with men.
Through Serena, a 27-year-old American woman, who is living with an
Afghan family and their 27-year-old daughter Hasina, we are taken inside
the walls that separate women from men. Serena becomes the eyes and
ears of the filmmakers.
Together, Serena, Hasina and Olga set out on a journey to learn what it
means to be a woman in today's Afghanistan. As their journey progresses,
Serena's desire to respect Afghan culture and tradition comes into
conflict with her belief in universal rights for women. From
interviewing child brides to women in prison, Serena comes to understand
the risks Hasina and other Afghan women take to assert their rights
Tags
cut from different cloth, burqa, burqas, beliefs, belief, clif orloff, olga shalygin, pulitzer prize, serena, hasina, afghan, afghanistan, afghan culture, culture
Download our android app!
