Liz Mermin's film about hairstylists from the U.S. coming to Kabul, Afghanistan to teach local women the art of hair, makeup and massage is the storyline in The Beauty Academy of Kabul. But the story is really about the admiration the American women come to have for the women in Afghanistan, the respect that grows between them, and the reality that cultures cannot be changed overnight. All the multifaceted aspects of Aghan life are seen, with gun-toting soldiers on the streets, children hanging precariously on the top of an overloaded bus, women in burqas, and men peering into the beauty school.
Mermin's Film Tells the Story of Women Helping Women
The beginning of the film relates a brief recent history of Afghanistan, just enough to let the viewer realize the instability and constant warfare that these people have experienced. One Afghan woman who had left the country decades ago, returns to notice that the country had gone back at least 100 years due to the Taliban. "They just want normal," notes one American woman.
The Americans come and help get the new academy off the ground with fresh paint and new equipment. When women line up to get into the academy, they have to institute a drawing so that the first class can begin, with the other women waiting for the next class, three months hence. There is no shortage of women hoping to advance themselves, and that is precisely why a series of American women come to teach at the school.
The Beauty Academy of Kabul is the Story of Women Healing Women, One Client at a Time
Before graduating, the students must work on real customers. When word goes out that free beauty services will be given at the school, women line up several deep to get in for an appointment. Watching as the women then attend their graduation, realizing the many obstacles they have overcome, one can only hope that their reward will be as great as their effort. Juggling small children, demanding husbands, cultural constraints, cleaning house and cooking meals, many of these women never seem to stop or rest.
They dare not complain, either, for "if you talk back to your husband two times, he will throw you out." While the Americans have to learn a bit about this very different culture, their hearts are in the right place as they come to love this country and her people. The music by Ahmad Zahi adds dimension to the film; the photography by Lynda Hall is easy to watch. A very different kind of film, entertaining and unique.
- 74 minutes
- Noble Enterprise Productions
- Movie site
- BBC/Magic Lantern Media
- 2004
Barbara DeGrande - Barbara DeGrande is a writer, film critic, and blogger, with years of experience as a program developer. She has a Bachelor of Arts in ...
Join the Conversation