Written by:
Demetria Daniels

P: 212-332-9991

718-885-6576 A chatty, informative column of New York events featuring places, people and personalities and celebrities. demetriadaniels@gmail.com

 
Amidst the sea of burkas and dust, a magnificent movie has been made called :
THE BEAUTY ACADEMY OF KABUL, directed by Liz Mermin, and produced by Nigel Noble and the BBC and DISCOVERY.

Three women from the United States set up a beauty school called "Beauty Without Borders" in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2003. This project was funded by VOGUE and CLAIROL.
It is a school for local women to learn the latest cutting, coloring, perming techniques; in the three-month course, they can go out and develop their own beauty parlors - many in just one-room .
They wait patiently for the "heads" to arrive - those are the manequin heads with hair that the ladies can practice their techniques.

Interspersed in the teachings are interviews with many of the women - one who said she saw hands and feet cut off and burka-claden women set afire by the Taliban.
The horrors of the war are forgotten by the women's smiles and joy.

We visit the Nazira Salon where the owner makes $6 per day and the Fazula Salon and the Hanifa salon. With their children at their side, these ladies are now "working women" with income and self-respect.

The philosophy behind this picture is that Afghanistan must change - the women can heal - and that peace can happen.
It is a brilliant movie of hope and survival - **** - four stars.
posted by Demetria at 3:46 PM