Bread & Roses (15)
Directed by Sahra Mani

AS women in the US are having their health rights eroded, in Afghanistan, under the Taliban dictatorship, women are banned from working, getting an education, walking or travelling in a taxi on their own, singing or listening to music and they cannot even talk outside their homes. 

The stark realities for Afghan women living in this so-called gender apartheid are shown in Afghan director Sahra Mani’s powerful and harrowing documentary which follows three women in real time as they secretly filmed guerilla-style their day-to-day plight and fight against the regime. 

These are Zahra, a dentist turned activist who was forced to stop working at her own dental surgery; Sharifa, a former government worker who was ordered to stay home with her parents; and Taranom, who was exiled to Pakistan. They all speak on behalf of the millions of women in their country. 

Their video footage of armed Taliban soldiers manhandling female protesters, calling for their civil rights to be restored, teargassing them and in one case beating a woman to the ground and then kicking her repeatedly in the head, is horrific and shocking. 

Where is the international outrage and outcry against the Taliban? As one female activist asks: “Why should the Taliban be recognised?” We should also be asking why the UN hasn’t taken action against them or tried to protect and restore the freedoms to half of Afghanistan’s population. 

Produced by Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and executive produced by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who knows first-hand how brutal and deadly the Taliban are, the film puts you centre stage in these women’s lives and their battle to recover their autonomy. You also witness the threats, the fear and tension as Taliban soldiers break down people’s doors and take the women away to be beaten and tortured. 

It also captures the spirit and resilience of Afghan women who will not go quietly, along with their bravery at standing up to these misogynistic male rulers, which takes extraordinary guts. 

As the film states, since the fall of Kabul on August 15 2021 thousands of women have taken to the city streets demanding bread, work and freedom. Hundreds of them were arrested, tortured and killed and many are still missing. 

A number of recent US-sponsored films have covered Afghanistan: first there was the 2022 Escape from Kabul, showing the US troops in the run-up to pulling out of Kabul attempting to evacuate Afghans out of the country in chaotic airport scenes; then there was Hollywoodgate, which depicted the situation immediately after the US left completely and the Taliban moved into the US Hollywood Gate complex in Kabul and began rebuilding Afghanistan in their own image; and now this new documentary which outlines the damaging effects of Taliban rule on women who have been stripped of all their basic rights and say. While the US allowed this to happen, this highlights an oppression for which the the Taliban need to be held to account. 

Hopefully Mani’s incredible and must-see documentary will spark the much needed change.

On Apple TV+ from November 22.