| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (50 min. 9 sec.) ; 299340215 bytes |
| Summary |
This one-hour film, by Liz Mermin, tracks a unique development project that began in the summer of 2004 when a group of volunteer American hairstylists, financed by the beauty industry, arrived in Afghanistan to open a beauty school.The Beauty Academy Of Kabul tracks the development of this project as American teachers, all volunteers, including three Afghan-Americans returning home for the first time in over twenty years, set out to teach the latest cutting, colouring, and perming techniques to practising and aspiring Afghan hairdressers and beauticians. "There were certainly people who thought it was frivolous and an inappropriate thing to be doing at that time. But they had hundreds begging to come to the school. The excitement was amazing. At every salon we went to, the women were thrilled about this idea. "- Liz Mermin, DirectorLiz Mermin's film travels beyond the confines of the beauty school and into the students' homes. The film exposes the terrible working conditions endured by these women during the Taliban and how, despite working in half-destroyed buildings, with no running water or electricity, surrounded by children and hidden behind layers of curtains, several students ran secret salons under Taliban rule. When their husbands lost their jobs, these women were left to support their families. Though the practice was outlawed, the demand for hairdressers never dried up. Even under their burkas, women wanted to look their best for weddings and engagements.Throughout the film, the students share their stories about life under the Taliban and during the civil war. They also speak about how they feel about love and marriage, the past and the future, East and West and they explain what drew them to the beauty school in the first place. As Afghanistan struggles to maintain a tenuous peace, feed its people, and strike a delicate balance between tradition, religion, and the allure of modernity, The Beauty Academy of Kabul offers a rare glimpse into Afghan women's lives, and documents the poignant and often humorous process through which women with very different experiences of life come to learn about one another. (From Afghanistan, in English and Farsi, English subtitles) |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-04-29 at 23:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: PG |
| Subject |
Beauty culture -- Study and teaching.
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Beauty, Personal -- Psychological aspects.
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Cosmetology teachers.
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Kabul Beauty School.
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Muslim women -- Social conditions.
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Afghanistan -- Kabul.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Mermin, Liz, director
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