Sahraa Karimi

Sahraa Karimi is an Afghan film director and teacher currently based in Italy, who was notably the first female chairperson of the Afghan Film Organization (Afghan Film).[3][4] She has directed 30 short films, 3 documentary films and one fiction film Hava, Maryam, Ayesha which had the world premier at the 76th Venice Film Festival. Prior to the fall of Kabul to the hands of the Taliban, she was the first and the only woman to be directing Afghanistan's film entity.[3][5][6][7]

Sahraa Karimi
Sahraa Karimi in 2019
Born (1983-05-21) 21 May 1983[1]
Tehran, Iran[2]
NationalityAfghan
Occupation(s)Film director, Screenwriter, Film editor, University Lecturer
Known for
  • First female general director of Afghan Film in 2019
  • Directing Hava, Maryam, Ayesha (2019)
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)

Background

Karimi was born and raised in Iran to Afghan refugee parents. She has received a PhD degree in the field of Cinema (Fiction Film Directing & Screenwriting) from the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Bratislava,[2][8] Light Breeze, a short fiction she made during her time in the academy, went on to win as the Best Short Fiction Film at the Sun in a Net Awards (the highest film awards in Slovakia).[1] Her first professional work was a documentary, Searching for Dream, which was exhibited at the Dhaka International Film Festival in 2006. Her other notable works include Afghan Women behind the Wheel, which won around 20 awards at major film festivals, including Academy awards in Slovakia and the best documentary film award at the 13th Dhaka International Film Festival.[9][10] In 2019 she directed the film Hava, Maryam, Ayesha, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for an Orizzonti/ Horizon Prize (award for Best Film).[11]

Karimi was the leading organizer of protests against Kabul Municipality's plans to demolish the once famous Cinema Park in the city. She and cultural activists and filmmakers were against the destruction of the 1950s cinema that fell into disarray, calling it "catastrophic" to the city's culture and history.[12][13] The demolition went ahead in November 2020 and Karimi had to be forcibly moved by police from the cinema to allow it to take place. A photo of her weeping as the demolishers came went viral on social media.[14]

In August 2021, following the fall of Kabul to Taliban, she mentioned: "I went to the bank to get some money; they closed and evacuated. I still cannot believe this happened", adding, "They are coming to kill us".[15] Later, she was evacuated from Kabul to Kyiv, Ukraine along with 11 individuals, thereafter writing: "My dear friends do not worry, I am fine and safe".[16][17] Later that year Karimi settled in Italy[18] and in 2022 started teaching as a visiting professor at the National School of Cinema (CSC) in Rome.[19]

Works

References
  1. "Sahraa Karimi". imdb.
  2. "Sahraa Karimi". Asia Peace Film Festival. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  3. Atakpal, Haseba (19 May 2019). "Sahraa Karimi To Lead Afghan Film As First Female Chairperson". TOLOnews. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  4. Vourlias, Christopher (30 August 2019). "Filmmaker Sahraa Karimi Defies Odds With Kabul-Set Drama 'Hava, Maryam, Ayesha'". Variety. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  5. Hamid, Tamim (19 May 2019). "Angelina Jolie Describes Sahraa Karimi's Appointment As Historic". TOLOnews. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  6. Mehmood, Arshad (21 May 2019). "Exclusive: Afghanistan Appoints Woman to Head State-run Film Company". The Media Line. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  7. Welle, Deutsche. "Escape from Kabul: Afghan director Sahraa Karimi recounts her experience". Frontline. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  8. s.r.o, Appio Digital. "Sahraa Karimi | DOKweb". dokweb.net. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  9. "Parlika". Bratislava International Film Festival. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  10. Chatak, Hasan Mansoor (11 January 2014). "Sahraa Karimi: Woman's storytelling technique varies greatly from that of a man's". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  11. Frater, Patrick (6 September 2019). "Venice: Angelina Jolie Gives Shout-Out to Afghan Film 'Hava, Maryam, Ayesha'". Variety. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  12. Sheva, Mohammad Arif (10 November 2020). "Sahraa Karimi 'Sorry' for Demolition of Cinema Park, Unable to Change Gov't Decision". The Khaama Press News Agency.
  13. "Going to the cinema is 'a message of solidarity'". BBC News.
  14. "Cinema Park: Filmmakers mourn as 70-year-old Afghan cinema is demolished". 29 November 2020.
  15. "Afghan filmmaker Sahraa Karimi's video of running around Kabul goes viral: 'They are coming to kill us'". Independent. 17 August 2021.
  16. "Afghan Filmmaker Sahraa Karimi Says She Has Been Evacuated From Kabul". Deadline. 17 August 2021.
  17. "Afghan film director recounts escape from Kabul". Reuters. 18 August 2021.
  18. "The Taliban fear the power of art: filmmaker Sahraa Karimi - La Prensa Latina Media". Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  19. "Interview with Sahraa Karimi, Film Director and Scriptwriter". GlobalCampus of Human Rights - GCHR. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
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