San Francisco International Film Festival 20 April - 04 May 2006

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Lyrical, tragic and purposefully distinct in tone and focus from mainstream media’s coverage of the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, Horace Shansab’s remarkably assured and deeply humane feature debut is a moving story about a close-knit family trying to survive under vicious and oppressive Taliban rule. The family builds a home in the rural mountains, hoping to live a peaceful life beyond the Taliban’s reach, but still must contend with cultural oppression, gender inequality and the harsh realities of the natural world. Banned from attending school, youngest daughter Zolykha delights in her siblings’ company and looks adoringly up to her father. At night she endures disturbing, clairvoyant dreams in which she is visited by apparitions—military invaders from different eras of Afghani history—who roam the war-torn mountains. These forewarnings partially herald the incursion of the Taliban into the family’s life. Yusuf, a volatile Talib, has his eye on the family’s eldest daughter, and the father’s fight for her honor sets off a tragic series of events including the children’s attempt to reach the city under the uncertain guidance of a Taliban defector. Filmed entirely on location under difficult conditions, and imbued with the warmth of Afghan music, imagery and rhythm, the film offers a rare glimpse into Afghani life under Talib rule. “I hope Zolykha’s Secret reminds its audience that they were all once children,” Shansab says, “and that the lives of the poor, the voiceless, and the desperate are just as precious and sweet as their own.”

—Tessa Swigart

Copyright © 2006 San Francisco Film Society