The Beauty Academy of Kabul

Today’s post is from June at Schimelpfenig Library:

 

The Beauty Academy of Kabul (2006) directed by Liz Mermin

If you need a dose of hope, this is the documentary to see.  A group of American hairdressers travel to Kabul, Afghanistan to teach a group of Afghani women how to style hair professionally.  In this movie, one sees women who have survived war, some have even endured arranged marriages, and all lived through the Taliban regime.  And, in the days of the Taliban, these women, and others like them, had to conduct their home-based businesses underground for fear of reprisal. 

Watching these women revel in their new skills and self-empowerment is a journey which celebrates human resiliency, breaks down the barriers which separate us, and reminds us that when all is said and done, we all have the same or similar basic wants and needs.