Co-presented with Women in Animation
Community partner: Czech Center New York

Dir. Michaela Pavlátová, 2021, Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, color. 85 min.
In Czech and Dari with English subtitles

Golden Globes Awards 2022 – Nominated for Best Motion Picture – Animated
Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2021 – Official Selection – Jury Prize

In 2011, Helena, a young Czech student, decides to leave everything behind for love to follow Nazir, her soon-to-be husband, to post-Taliban Kabul. She soon experiences the upheavals of her new Afghan family on a daily basis. Using her perspective as a European woman, she attempts to assimilate in a community torn between cultural and generational differences, national pride and modernity. Her life is shaken by the arrival of Maad, an orphan who will challenge everything she has ever known.

With gorgeous 2D animation, great texture and depth, Michaela Pavlátová’s first film offers a penetrating observation of a woman who wants to save her relationship while challenging oppressive rules and traditions.

A prerecorded Q&A with Michaela Pavlátová will be available online after the event. Check back here.

“This unsparingly poignant film warrants major attention. Blending subdued magical realism with unfiltered harsh truths, Pavlatova addresses the vulnerable position of women in a strictly patriarchal society.” – Carlos Aguilar, The New York Times