Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

From a family of film-makers, this is the teenage director's first fictional feature. Six-year-old Bakhtay is living in an Afghan cave near where the Taliban blew up statues of Buddhas in 2001. She resolves to go to school even though she has no pens, money, resources. Eventually, in her quest, she is set upon by bullying boys who act out the roles of both Taliban and Americans. Sometimes didactic and occasionally confusing, this heartfelt portrait has nevertheless garnered many awards including Crystal Bear (voted for by young people) at Berlin 2008.