8th Annual Boston Muslim Film Festival: Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)

Project Nur-a student led initiative of American Islamic Congress and AIC Boston Present:

8th Annual Boston Muslim Film Festival:

Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)

April 9, 2014

6:00pm-9:00pm

Boston University

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Building, Room 211

685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA

Speakers: Dr. Omar Sharifi (Former Kabul Director of AIAS) & Uzra Azizi

FREE and Open to the Public | Light refreshments will be served

This event is organized in partnership with Boston University’s American Institute of Afghanistan Studies and the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations.

About Wajma

It’s snowing in Kabul, and gregarious waiter Mustafa charms a pretty student named Wajma. The pair begin a clandestine relationship—they’re playful and passionate but ever mindful of the societal rules they are breaking. After Wajma discovers she is pregnant, her certainty that Mustafa will marry her falters, and word of their dalliance gets out. Her father must decide between his culturally held right to uphold family honor and his devotion to his daughter.

Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) offers us a more complex and nuanced portrait of contemporary dating and the role of women in middle-class Afghanistan than we’ve been permitted to see before onscreen. Wajma Bahar’s dynamic intensity in the title role is matched by the powerful work of Hadji Gul as her foreboding but conflicted father. Beginning his story as an intimate romance, filmmaker Barmak Akram shifts the focus to the volatility in Wajma’s home after her secret is divulged, ultimately revealing an Afghan family just as capable of cruelty—and forgiveness—as any in the world.

About The Speakers

Dr. Mohammad Omar Sharifi

Dr. Mohammad Omar Sharifi is the former Senior Research Fellow and Kabul Director of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Civil Society Development Center (CSDC) and member of the Board of Directors of the Afghan Alumni Association. In addition, he worked as National Consultant for UNICEF Afghanistan. He is Asia Society Fellow and member of the Afghan 21 Young Leaders Forum. He graduated from Kabul Medical Institute in 2003 and following his medical studies, he worked as Head of research and publications for the Foundation for Culture and Civil Society in Kabul, and as Director of the Open Media Fund for Afghanistan. From 2006 to 2008, he studied Cultural Anthropology at Columbia University in New York under a Fulbright Fellowship. He also received a fellowship at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. Currently he is a PhD Student at Boston University in the department of Anthropology. Dr. Sharifi has written several essays on social and political issues in Afghanistan, and his articles are published in national and international journals.

Uzra Azizi

Uzra Azizi came to the United States from Afghanistan in 2008 and attended College of the Holy Cross as an international student between 2008 and 2012. She graduated with a Bachelors in International Relations focusing on Conflict Resolution. Uzra worked in Afghanistan with international non-governmental organizations, such as: The Asia Foundation, Counterpart International, the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and a government office, the Government Media and Information Center (GMIC). She also worked with the Human Rights Watch in Washington DC for six months assessing the Afghan refugees situation in the neighboring countries. Uzra has mainly worked with, and interviewed women in Afghanistan through these opportunities. She be sharing her experiences and insight on Afghan women in Afghanistan. Currently, she is a Paralegal at a law firm in Boston.

About the Boston Muslim Film Festival

The American Islamic Congress is hosting its 8th Annual Boston Muslim Film Festival from March 25th to April 11th. Our festival provides a fresh perspective into the complexity of the Muslim Community. Open dialogue on unspoken issues and tackling stereotypes surrounding the Muslim Identity is the aim for the series of films AIC has selected this year. The movies will address social issues such as American Muslim Identity, sexual harassment, Interfaith collaborations, revolutions, genocide, generation gaps, censorship, and many more—visually complementing the striking theme of this year’s film festival—“Contrast in Depth.”

This program is funded in part by MassHumanities. Thank you.