Drum it up for Kabul’s girls

Drum it up for Kabul's girls

Drum it up for Kabul's girls

1. How did the idea of Kabul Cards emerge? What was the long-term objective?
The project group Global Video Letters was having a workshop in Kabul that we took part in. We were supposed to film our lives and people around the streets and send the videos to other countries as a video letter. After we were trained on the basics of video journalism we went out to film and interview people on streets and in shops.u00a0Our trainers felt these movies were good, and we could turn this video letter into a short film about daily life in Kabul, so we had an opportunity to bring Kabul on screen from a different angle and introduce a new face of Kabul to people who have only heard about war and explosions in the country. We hope to make a longer documentary, which shows our lives, ups and downs of Kabul, and its changes in past one and half years.

Nargis (right) filming co-director Sadaf Fetrat as she rehearses on her drum set

2. What support did you get from friends and family to get the project on the road?
My family and friends are civil society activists. Unfortunately, it is not secure for a girl to go unaccompanied to certain sites in Kabul. So, whenever I wanted to go to such places for filming purposes, a male member from my family would come along. My friends were supportive and were comfortable with me filming them while we went shopping, visited restaurants, attended parties and the like.

3. What was the feedback you received after screening Kabul Cards?
Our project was shown at The Noble Peace Center Exhibition for Afghanistan in Oslo, Norway for six months and during this period we received numerous emails form Afghans who live in other countries and went to the exhibition. We also received plenty of messages from people across the globe who watched our movies. They appreciated our work, especially Afghans who left the country during war since all they had heard about their motherland until then was news of war and killing. Now, they were able to see Kabul through the camera lens of Kabuli girls. It was very interesting for them. They flooded us with mails and messages on Facebook as well as the Global Video Letters page.u00a0

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