United Kingdom, 2009. I have no idea if he was a good person that had something to do with his life or if he was a bad person that had something to do with his death. Afghan Star. However, I think the film falls down in its emotional impact mostly due to Markings heavy reliancewhich may have been inevitableon the technically crude footage of the actual show. Start the wiki, Javascript is required to view shouts on this page. Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Host Sediqi has been granted political asylum in America. Introducing Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawwali Group, Rococo: Travel, Pleasure & Madness (Original Soundtrack), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The final was watched by 11 million people, a third of the Afghan population, all voting for their favourite singer by mobile phone; for many, it was their first taste of democracy. Instead, its just sort of there. The first is that as humans we all have a great deal of power. What kind of effect do you think the emotion of that whole narrative had on you and on the film? View version history. What we get is troubling enough even before Hussainzadas child is born and further hardships are endured. Afghan Star is a Middle Eastern version of that program, with the difference being that in a Muslim culture, the contestants are in a real life and death struggle every day between the secularists and the devout. The reaction of the man in the street? Yet when the popular enthusiasm for voting for a favourite star seems in part driven by the sense of futility in voting in elections, one fears that the dark days may not yet be over. Habib Amiri, Setara Hussainzada, Rafi Naabzada, Lima Sahar, Hameed Sakhizada, Massoud Sanjer. UNRATED Year: 2009 87 Website 440 Views. Electric Sunroof, Head Up Display & Other Features That Make The All New Hot & Techy Brezza A Hit. We just had to turn up and drink lots of tea and hope the person would agree to filming. "She deserves to be killed." D: Are there any other filmmakers in particular from whom you draw inspiration? Premiering on HBO2 on 26 January, the new film follows Setara's experience since her last performance on the TV show, in which she memorably danced and removed her headscarf, led to condemnation. Although music was still permitted on radio and TV, musicians were required to support the regime. Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star, a 35-minute documentary debuting tonight on HBO, examines the fallout of female showbiz celebrity in a culture that isnt ready for it. "We were incredibly lucky," says director Havana Marking, whose vivid documentary focuses on four contestants. He wasn't Taliban; in fact, he was part of the government, so you never knew what was about to happen. While HBO should be commended for showing this film, were not the audience that really needs to see it. HM: There are a million different things we could have done, and a million different things that could have happened as and when we were there. The program is seen not so much as a talent show, but as a pop-culture phenomenon that has the ability to move Afghanistan a little closer to a sense of national unity. "Music is banned by religion," she says. All user-contributed . Afghan Star-Top7-Setara Hussainzada - YouTube 0:00 / 2:45 Afghan Star-Top7-Setara Hussainzada 282,849 views Feb 9, 2008 See www.afghanstar.tv for more information, or to comment on this. HM: There were no personal threats, but a general protocol had to be followed. Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Any work that you looked to when you started this project? By all means, take your American Idol-besotted children to see this movie. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.2 and a MetaScore of 78. The mother and daughter duo disappear into anonymity once the show recording is over. Fearing for her life, Setara goes into hiding. "Mumtaz, our driver, had been in prison for a week under the Taliban because he was found with a music cassette. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Winner of both World Cinema-Documentary Audience and Directing Awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, the feature debut for British director Havana Marking is a rare snapshot of a society in transition--unmoored and unpredictable. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. "I believe there is no difference between a woman and a man," she declares. Heres How To Choose, Where To Buy & More. If we didn't care about Setara--and of course, if I hadn't cared about her in the first place--the film would not be so intense or important. But Lima and Setara, two of only three women out of an original pool of 2,000 contestants, take a far greater risk--by just daring to make themselves visible. Anything left unsaid-- or something that you just didn't have room for? Partnering with Afghani producers Saad Mohseni and Jahid Mohseni, Marking follows four young contestants through the third season of a wildly popular talent show (also called Afghan Star) modeled on American Idol, in which audience members vote for candidates via SMS (Short Message Service). On the TV show she danced and removed her hijab while singing. Contestants Rafi Naabzada (lef) and Lima Sahar (center) performing on stage in Havana Marking's Afghan Star, a Zeitgeist Films release. "AFGHAN STAR." Unrated. SEE RANK. Afghan Star's popularity is a bona fide phenomenon, and filmmaker Havana Marking explores . While one-third of Afghanistan watches, Rafi Naabzada wins the final round, becoming the Afghan Star. This time we got our female singer; we even went one step further, with a man and woman duetting. Rafi (a 19-year-old idol-in-the-making from Mazar e Sharif), Hameed (a classically trained musician from the persecuted Hazara ethnic group), Lima (a 25-year-old woman from conservative Kandahar) and Setara (a 21-year-old woman from Herat): Each subject has a unique story that brings broader issues into focus. Day-to-day, it affected us because we couldn't really plan anything in advance due to kidnap threat. It brings an energy and spontaneity to the film.". Even the audience members must go through multiple security checks. To the home audience, its the equivalent of Sinead OConnor ripping up a picture of the Pope. And since one of the two female contestantsSetara Hussainzadais a rule breaker who goes beyond the dictates of Islamic religion (she shows her hair and dances during a performance), were given a much more potentially dangerous drama, since this results in death threats. On this audition, the Ghazal fans from all over the country participated to show their talents in order to satisfy the judges for getting a success card which advances them to the next steps of auditions and finally to the top 12. When the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, they restored order but put a total ban on music and TV. Two are women, which in itself is remarkable: Setara Hussainzada from Herat and Lima Sahar from Kandahar. The specters of repression and fear are palpable, but so too, apparently, is a wave of hope and defiance. Religious leaders soon step into the debate, putting pressure on the government to ban dancing and offer "only Islamic broadcasting.". When she ventures out to a closed shopping arcade, a pair of burqa-clad women approach her; you expect a tongue-lashing but instead shes praised as an inspirational figure. Despite the chaos, the hunger for music - prohibited under Taliban rule - was incredible. Conservative clerics hated her. Music has been caught in the crossfire in Afghanistan for the last 30 years. The Taliban outlawed music for five years. Maybe theyll come away with a knowledge of how much can really ride on a song. "Afghan Star is better than politics," says one guy in a teahouse. Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company. Afghan Star Year: 2009: Director: Havana Marking: Stars: Daoud Sediqi, Rafi Naabzada, Setara Hussainzada, Hameed Sakhizada, Lima Sahar, various: Genre: Documentary, Music: Rating: 8 (from 2 votes) Review: Afghanistan has had more than its share of troubles over the years, but perhaps there could be a way of uniting a country which has been split apart by conflicts from the Mujahadeen and the . Unrated. The show premiered in September 2005 on Tolo TV, four years after the fall of Taliban. Others go much further. Setara Hussainzada, a former Afghan Star participant, was devastated when her fellow countrymen called her a woman of loose character for dancing and singing showing her hair. In the end, 11 million people (a third of the population) tune in to watch the finale, gathering in homes, fruit shops, coffee houses and military barracks. By what name was Afghan Star (2009) officially released in Canada in English? Did you have difficulties finding funding or partners? Habib Amiri Setara Hussainzada Rafi Naabzada Hameed Sakhizada Lema Sahar: Cinematography: Phil Stebbing: Edited by: Ash Jenkins: Music by . As we all know, setara hussainzada was a genius at his job, but he was a complete idiot when it came to alarms and time-loops. When I am performing, I am singing for the people, the feeling of freedom comes to my soul. Afghan Star was directed by Havana Marking and is distributed by Zeitgeist Films. Setara Hussainzada is from Herat and probably also Tajik. His family thought he was dead because they didnt see him for two days, but his evil plan backfired when he woke up to see his wife, son, and daughter lying dead on the floor. The message in his songs is national inclusiveness and unity. This documentary about the Afghani version of American Idol is good and worth a look, but I was never swept up by it emotionally. When "Silencing the Song'' picks up a year later, Hussainzada has married one of her fans and is eight months pregnant, but her life is in disarray. I have personal experience of such strong sentiment. Mad visionaries that they are, they gave me 15k immediately. "Politics bring misery". "Killing a person," Forogh laments, "has become as easy as killing a bird." To this day, he doesn't know who tried to kill him. Beige Luciano-Adams is a journalist based in Los Angeles, where she covers politics, business, arts and culture for a variety of publications. 2 wins & 3 nominations. He is Hazara, from the centre of the country, where the Bamiyan Buddhas were blown up by the Taliban, and has an interest in traditional music. In January, Marking's documentary (also called Afghan Star) took two prizes in the Sundance film festival's world cinema category: best documentary director, and the audience award for a documentary. To follow him, go to www.twitter.com/tyburr. Find out where to watch movies online now! On the TV show she danced and removed her hijab while singing. Setara Hussainzada was one of the first people to lose his life while working for a company that was a competitor of his former employer. As the competition nears its climax, she claims even the Taliban are voting for her - because she is Pashtun. "She deserves to be killed." Fearing for her life, Setara goes into hiding. 2023 International Documentary Association. Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star. Her act of defiance changes the tone and direction of the film, as the controversy intensifies and new ones arise. [CDATA[ She was passionate and brave woman (though also a little naive) who lived for music. A look at how contestants on the a musical contest program "Pop Idol" in Afghanistan risk their lives to appear on the show. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Afghan Star the show and the documentary moved on, but the director stuck around to witness the fallout on its most controversial performer. Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star, a documentary by Havana Marking released in January 2011 revisiting Setara as she deals with continuous death threats. He was a great music fan, and my guide to Afghan music," she says. Not the slickest or most crowd-pleasing performance-competition docu, but it's nonetheless absorbing. RECOMMENDED Make a list of what you're willing to die for. Think hard. //-->. He was also the president of a company that had a legal fight with the government. I am confident now that I can and do have a way of directing that works. While one contestant emerges as the indisputable heroine, music is the first subject of the film, and protagonists and filmmakers alike want us to see it as they do: powerful, transformative, essential. It was the first big concert for more than a decade and was broadcast live around the world. When I returned in 2004 for another concert, a Pashtun singer had just become the first woman, post-Taliban, to sing on Afghan TV. Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com. Marking's film follows the strange odyssey of semifinalists Setara Hussainzada, . Havana Marking: I knew the idea was brilliant and would be commissioned, but it was my first big film (I had only directed a 30 min. Launched in 2005, Afghan Star quickly became the most popular show in the country satiating the nation's thirst for home grown entertainment and filling a void left in the local music scene after decades of war. This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. The other female contestant Lema Sahar, a Pashtun, is eliminated in the last round leaving Naabzada and Sakhizada. I guess I just forget. Simon Broughton reports, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Taboo buster 2008 Afghan Star finalist Lema Sahar, who claimed the Taliban were voting for her. Kabuls Hameed Sakhizada and Rafi Naabzada, from Mazar-i-Sharif, are both young and pretty, westernized without being Western. There were just three women among the 2,000 people who auditioned for Afghan Star. 9 Upcoming Movies Of Shah Rukh Khan We Just Cannot Wait For, Anime, Classic Games, And Porn: 6 Weird Things The CIA Found On Osama bin Laden's Hard Drive, Aakash Institute Allegedly Organising A 'Valentine's Day Party' As Per Viral Notice, Management Unaware, Dubai At Night: 6 Spots To Unwind & Chill, Reliance General Insurance's New Campaign For Reliance Health Infinity Policy Is A Quirky Reminder To Seek 'Zyaada Se Bohot Zyaada' & Here's Why We Need It, Is Introducing A Sex Toy To Your Love Life A Good Idea? This country was like a house that no one was living in, says Rafi, implying that the lights are coming on again, one by one. After Daoud Sediqi decides to air the footage, there is outrage in the conservative Muslim community and Setara receives death threats and is evicted from her apartment. But when you have a deadline and a budget, you make decisions and live with them. Does it include "American Idol"? Afghan Star, the documentary about that TV show, is one of the most hopeful and heart-rending movies Ive seen this year. After all, the smartest people on earth rarely act like idiots. In fact, the smartest people on earth are usually the ones who are the most logical. Women like Setara Hussainzada and Zulala Hashemi are paving the path for new beginnings in Afghanistan. You could only film in safe areas; we didn't go to Kandahar, for example, where one of my characters was from, because it was dangerous for us, but even more importantly, it was dangerous for her to be seen with Westerners there. Currently in its 12th season, Afghan Star is pure delight. I went on my own and filmed for a month. AFGHAN STAR. Sediqi - who rebelled against Taliban rule by secretly repairing people's video recorders - wasn't exaggerating Afghan Star's huge influence. Your comment is Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion. Afghan Star follows the story of Hameed Sakhizada, Setara Hussainzada, Rafi Naabzada, and Lema Sahar, four initFadeSlider(); Afghan Star is a talent quest which scours for hot new musical talent in the nation of Afghanistan. Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com. Afghan Star has a great deal of fun with the national mania for the show, watching makeshift aerials pop up across Kabul, marveling at the wealthy entrepreneur who buys 10,000 SIM cards to vote for Lima, sitting quietly by as a little girl plays Afghan Star with her (veiled) Barbie dolls. Setara Hussainzada, Rafi Naabzada, Lima Sahar. NewsyVideos. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. And all the ethnic groups were represented." Sahar, the more demure of the two, kept well within expectations of how Afghani women should perform in public. Feel free to contribute! Heres a case where a little technical panache would have gone a long way toward making the question of who will win as exciting to the viewer of the film as it is to the contestants and the TV viewers. Share your . To see a woman make such wonderful, beautiful and heart-filled films, be successful and still be a nice person is very inspiring. Current holds. During this time, music was considered disrespectful and sacrilegious but the Mujahideen and the Taliban, respectively. Taking the inflammatory convergence of democracy, modernity and pop culture in a fragile "post-war" Afghanistan as its point of departure, Afghan Star is a powerful and evocative documentary, grounded in astute observation and led by compelling human narratives. In these scenes, filmmaker Havana Marking shows a country struggling to redefine itself after decades of repression. Some of it? I went to Afghanistan in January 2002, just a few months after the Taliban fled Kabul, to make a documentary for the BBC about the return of music to the capital. Setara Hussainzada was eliminated first, and while on air she danced without a hijab, receiving death threats as a result. National unity is another common topic - and there is no Simon Cowell-style humiliation. She lives in hiding in Kabul, unable to return to her home province of Herat. 0 current holds with 1 total copy. Quantico, where Marines train before Afghan tours. could not find your e-mail or password. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker. I think this is the most important thing about Setara Hussainzada, because it shows us how much the government thought about him. Starring: Rafi Naabzada, Lema Sehar, Hameed Sakhizada, Setara Hussainzada, Habib Amiri. 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