Synopsis
Afghan women defied Taliban threats by participating in the election that determined former-President Hamid Karzai’s successor. Amid allegations of systematic electoral fraud, a runoff prolonged the process for six months as NATO troops withdrew.
Afghanistan Women in the 1393 Election was an official selection of the 2016 WVN Online Film Festival.
About the Filmmakers
Roya Sadat is an award-winning female Afghan producer and director who successfully brought touching stories to international festivals after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. She graduated from the University of Herat with a degree in Law and Politics. In 2005, she earned a Certificate of Study from the Asian Film Academy in South Korea. Roya Sadat with Alka Sadat, her sister, founded ROYA Film House (RFH) in 2003.
She has won international awards from around the world. RFH hosts an annual International Women’s Film Festival – Afghanistan. She has 15 years’ experience producing, writing and directing acclaimed feature-length and documentary films and TV dramas.
Roya Sadat directed and produced more than 50 advertisements and promotions (2007-2010) for Tolo TV and her own company. She has been invited to more than 30 international film festivals for ‘Three Dots’ and ‘Playing the Taar.’ She is also Head of the Afghanistan Chapter for the International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT), a 15-country women’s media network.
Alka Sadat, born in Herat, Afghanistan, studied cinema in Italy. She most recently won an award from the Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival! 2011 (Public Liberties & Human Rights). She is currently Vice President of Roya Film House (RFH), an independent Afghan film company with a focus on human rights and host of the International Women’s Film Festival – Afghanistan. Sadat was a young child when the Taliban came to power.
Her mother, not wanting her and her sister Roya to go uneducated, broke the law by teaching them at home. When the Taliban regime was abolished, Sadat started working with her sister making films, establishing the Roya Film House in 2003.
Like her sister, Alka Sadat is a prolific filmmaker who has won numerous awards from several international film festivals. She has directed many films focused on women’s issues in Afghanistan. From 2012-2013, Sadat made three documentary films for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which explored efforts by UN agencies and the international community to help rebuild the country and its institutions. Sadat most recently completed Afghanistan Night Story, a film about the elite Afghan Army commandos.
