Young women protesting in Afghanistan Credit: @touchwoodpr.com
Award winning documentary filmmaker Aeyliya Husain’s latest film, An Unfinished Journey, follows the lives and work of four women leaders forced to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban assumed power in 2021.
As soon as these strong, resilient women arrived in Canada they immediately started organizing, protesting and meeting with female politicians and senators to keep the world’s attention focused on the crisis of human rights abuses that women and girls are forced to live with under Taliban rule.
Homaira Ayubi, former member of Parliament, began organizing and protesting as soon as she arrived in Canada Credit: @touchwoodpr.com
In An Unfinished Journey, former Liberal MP, Maryam Monsef states, “The status of women in Afghanistan is a canary in the coal mine for the status of women everywhere.”
As a filmmaker who has documented the lives of women and girls from a variety of cultures and countries, Aeyliya shares her thoughts on this statement on the eve of the tumultuous American election that saw Donald Trump elected president of the United States of America and when women in Canada are feeling that they too could be slipping towards the proverbial Handmaid’s Tale.
Aeyliya and I discuss how these three former parliamentarians and one journalist are trying to rebuild their lives from scratch while working together to make sure the world doesn’t stop fighting for the human rights of women and girls living under Taliban rule.
Zefnoon Safi, former member of Parliament, in a hotel room in Calgary Credit: @touchwoodpr.com
Aeyliya also shares actions feminists and feminist organizations can undertake to support the work of Afghan women living in Canada as well as those women and girls still living in the gender apartheid state of Afghanistan.
Aeyliya’s extensive body of work, focused on issues of representation, women and photography, has been exhibited at national and international festivals including Tribeca Film Festival, where her film Shooting War was nominated for best short documentary.
Shooting War examined the Iraq War through the lens of a photojournalist, revealing the stories behind the images and the story of the war itself.
The World at Ten, -- available free on the National Film Board (NFB) site – highlights the changing face of inner-city classrooms while following the story of two ten-year-olds as they learn about fairness, the consequences of their actions and the realities of life in Canada.
Aeyliya’s film Daughters of the Revolution tells the story of an Iranian activist lawyer and her fight for women’s rights in Iran.
Her film The Fifth Region, is a short narrative that discusses the lives of Nancy and Joshua who are both Inuit. It documents their life-long struggle with aspects of their identities and how they begin to redefine what it means to be a young urban Inuk growing up in Southern Canada under the shadow of the Sixties Scoop and the residential school system.
Aeyliya’s films have screened at the San Francisco Docfest; Glasgow Short Film Festival, São Paulo Film Festival and the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival. They have also been broadcast on CBC, BBC, Swiss Public TV, France 4, The Documentary Channel, and Knowledge Network.
Aeyliya is currently in development on a feature documentary about climate change through the lens of a visual artist, living in the fastest warming place on earth, Svalbard, Norway.
An Unfinished Journey (75 minutes; 2024) will be screened at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec in early December 2024.
A 45-minute version of the original documentary can be viewed free on CBC Gem.
Additional information:
Add your name to the #EndGenderApartheid campaign and encourage national and international leaders to recognize this form of systemic oppression in international law.
International Services for Human Rights campaign to End Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan.
Financially support For the Refugees, a registered charity that is committed to fight for the rights of political refugees and asylum seekers who have made an exceptional contribution to society but face great personal danger as a result.
For the Refugees works closely with partners and Canadian authorities to ensure young Afghan women can access all the resources and support they need to continue their post secondary education and start new lives in Canada.
The organization also partners with local organizations and educational institutions to provide these young women with mentorship, counseling, and career guidance. For the Refugees is a registered charity in Canada and a government-approved refugee sponsor.
Thanks to everyone who read today’s article and listened to my podcast. With your continued support, a little Nicoll can make a lot of change.
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