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The first-time feature filmmaker doesn’t seek to depict a fantastical
version of Afghan life; rather, she laces its presentation of ordinary reality
with magical moments, emblematic of its dissimilarity from the scenes of
conflict that monopolise media and cinema narratives about the nation.

designed to provide a window into the milieu they chronicle. the girls’ gossiping, as well as in a tale an old man tells the
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cope with tragedy, and an omen of tumult to come. In fact, his RIIVSULQJ DQG VSHFXODWH WKDW 6HGLTD LV DOVR FXUVHG 7KH ROG
world is about to change drastically and quickly. As foreboded man spins a narrative about a wolf as big as a calf, known
by the chatter of others, his mother soon weds another man, DV WKH o.DVKPLU :ROIp ZKLFK LV DFWXDOO\ D JUHHQ IDLU\ IRUFHG
becoming the third wife of a husband who doesn’t want to WR WDNH DQRWKHU JXLVH
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old. They’re both charged with moving herds, and they’re VHHP OLNH DQ RGG ĺW KRZHYHU LQ 6DGDWpV YLVLRQ RI KHU KRPH
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slings that the boys spend much of their time playing with – as FDO YHUVLRQ RI $IJKDQ OLIH UDWKHU VKH ODFHV LWV SUHVHQWDWLRQ
a means of learning to fend off wolves, but providing as much of ordinary reality with magical moments, emblematic of its
fun as protection – and also enjoys an ease and camaraderie GLVVLPLODULW\ IURP WKH VFHQHV RI FRQĻLFW WKDW PRQRSROLVH PHGLD
neither has found elsewhere. Of course, though played out in and cinema narratives about the nation.
secret, their bond is forbidden due to the community’s strict ,QGHHG WKH HQWLUH H[LVWHQFH RI 6DGDWpV PRYLH VSULQJV IURP
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also the least of their respective concerns. Afghan parents in Iran, she grew up in Tehran until the age of
In patient scenes, 6NKE @MC 2GDDO watches its charac eleven – far from coincidentally, the same age as her two pro
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thing out of the ordinary. It also stresses how – as heard in DV D UHIXJHH p 6DGDW WHOOV PH

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