Monday, June 22, 2015

Buenos Aires Herald- Women Breaking Barriers in Afghanistan

Monday
June 22, 2015

Monday, June 22, 2015

‘Women are breaking barriers in Afghanistan’

A scene from Juan Antonio Moreno and Silvia Venegas’ documentary Boxing for Freedom.

By Pablo Suárez
For the Herald

A documentary focuses on a female boxer practicing her favourite sport against all odds

A remarkable entry in the official competition of the ongoing Human Rights Film Festival is the Spanish documentary Boxing for Freedom, produced by Making DOC and directed by Juan Antonio Moreno and Silvia Venegas. The film tells the unique story of Sadaf Rahimi, a young Afghan girl who has become, against all odds, her country’s best female boxer. The directors met with the Herald and shared their views on the role of young women who are shaping a new country.

Why tell the story of a female boxer in Afghanistan?

Silvia Venegas: We were interested in working with countries immersed in conflict. Afghanistan was one of them, and we were interested in this new generation of women who are doing things their mothers never did. When the American troops came in 2001, women were able to go back to school, practice sports and do some other things that were forbidden before. These women are breaking barriers.

Juan Antonio Moreno: We also wanted to break free from the stereotyped image that the media often portrays. In Afghanistan, that’s the image of a woman wearing a blue burka. We wanted to show the opposite: a young woman, a fighter, someone who’s struggling for freedom.

What are the sports women can practice?

SV: There are only three team sports for women: boxing, soccer, and handball. And boxing is the most important sport. In fact, fighting sports such as judo or tae kwon are also very popular, but not for women.

What about cultural activities?

JAM: Women can be a part of some cultural activities, including music. And there are some students, but very few at the university. However, if they don’t have the support of their families, they can’t do any of these things.

Sadaf does have plenty of support from her family, right?

JAM: Yes, which is something very, very rare. Yet remember this takes place in Kabul, the country’s capital, which allows for a few exceptions. You won’t find anything like this in rural areas or even other cities.

But you can’t see the mother’s face in the documentary, only her silhouette, and hear her voice.

SV: Even considering she’s very supportive of everything her daughters do, she didn’t want to be recognized in the documentary, whereas the father is not in it at all. He’s a cab driver and doesn’t want people to recognize him. He doesn’t want to hear them telling him that his daughters shouldn’t be boxing. He doesn’t want to get death threats, as he does in his neighbourhood. And they both want to protect the family.

The fear factor plays a key role.

JAM: Fear is the worst enemy and the biggest weapon in Afghanistan. It’s the opposite of freedom. Not only fear of the Taliban, but also of other extremists and political groups. And for women, fear is in their everyday life. Anyone who dares step out of traditional social norms is pointed at, criticized and insulted. Nonetheless, Sadaf ignores it. She goes to school, practices boxing, and travels abroad whenever she can. Of course, she knows she’s taking huge risks. We think it’s very significant that the girls expose themselves so much and so courageously. The thing is the parents belong to a very different generation.

SV: Yes, but it’s not only that. Sadaf is aware of her role in the Afghan society, she knows she has to show her face so that other girls can also do so. To her, it’s worthwhile to be on TV, to be interviewed, to be in a documentary. She and her sister have appeared all over the media, locally and abroad. So now other girls can see her and somehow do the things they want to do.

In Sadaf’s family, all the children go to school, which is also unusual.

SV: Sadaf’s mother wanted to be a doctor, but couldn’t pursue her dream because she was taken out of school by her family. So she tells her children she wants them to be somebody. Now they are at the university.

JAM: They know Afghanistan needs doctors, journalists, professors, and so on.

And these girls don’t get married at 14 either.

SV: Once again, their mother tells her daughters to study and not get married until they meet a tolerant, free-minded man. They have to study as much as possible first. Sadaf says that if she gets married, she will only do so after she turns 34. That would also show other girls that it can be done.

What does marriage mean exactly?

JAM: Marriage in Afghanistan entails that women no longer belong to themselves, but to their husbands. The man decides if they go to school or play sports. Normally, married women become housewives, exclusively. And they have kids at a very young age, so all they can do is take care of them. And this is more common in rural areas too, where the Taliban attack schools, throw toxic gas, and poison the school’s wells water. That’s why it’s safer to go to school in Kabul.

SV: Think that only 16 years ago there were public executions of women in the Gazhi Olympic Stadium, the place where now there is a boxing team of young women practicing sports and vindicating their identity as women. They represent the new Afghanistan.

When and where

Boxing for Freedom screens today, at 10.30 pm, at BAMA Cine Arte (Av. Roque Sáenz Peña 1145). The film’s directors will be present at the screening.

@pablsuarez

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