The 6th Herat International Women’s Film Festival Opens

The 6th Herat International Women’s Film Festival which is the most prestigious women’s film event in the region opened in its original form at the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul on Monday, 16 November 2020 which will run with live screenings until November 19 in Kabul, Herat, Bamyan and Nangarhar.

A lineup of 73 films from different countries, (India, Iran, France, Britain, Greece, Italy, USA, Egypt, Russia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Germany, Philippines, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Taiwan, Qatar, Turkey, Portugal, Finland, South Africa, Yemen, Malaysia, Uzbekistan and Argentina), have been officially selected in two parts: Competition and Non-Competition (special screening). 4 jury committees composed of cinema professional and women’s rights activists from Afghanistan, India, Iran, USA, Spain, Russia and France will award the festival with a statuette and a special mention certificate for the winning films. Nargis Abyar, director acclaimed Iranian drama “Track 143”, “Breath” and “When the Moon Was Full”, American producer Heidi Basch-Harod and Indian actress Bijaya Jena have been served as jurors in the International Narrative Feature Films Competition. Gris Jordana DP/Cinematographer from Spain, French film critic, producer and director Bastian Meiresonne, Afghan Animator and film director Nasir Hashimi have judged the films in the International Short Narrative and Animation Films Competition. International Documentary Feature and Short Films Competition category has been composed of French film critic Rosslyn Hymas, Russian Film Critic and Scholar Sergey Anashkin, and Panagiotis Kotzathanasis film critic and reviewer from Greece.

The national category competition jury committee members are including Sharofat M. Arabova filmmaker and film scholar from Tajikistan and Barmak Akram and Nasir Hashimi Afghan filmmakers.

This year’s HIWFF competition includes titles such as Saeed Roustaee’s “Just 6.5,” Hassan Fazili’s “Midnight Traveler” and Sahraa Karimi’s “Hava, Maryam, Ayesha”.

Veteran Afghan filmmakers Abdul Khaliq Alil, Zobaidah Sahar and Yasamin Yarmal were honoured for lifetime achievement on Monday, at the opening of this edition. The opening was also included live music performances.

Artworks from Kabul University students have been displayed in a four-day exhibition on the sidelines of the 6th Herat International Women’s Film Festival in Kabul, Afghanistan.