Parlika

Examining the social status of Afghan women during the country's transi- tion from a totalitarian theocracy to democracy, the picture tells the story of Suraya Parlika, a mature Afghan woman who after the defeat of Taliban decided to enter the political arena on the national as well as the local level. In doing so, she walked into the "territory of men" where active women are viewed rather as an oddity despite constitutional guarantees and where even members of cabinet and parliament, mostly tribal chieftains, show disre- spect to women. Especially those courageous women with unveiled faces who refuse to be silent but are trying to trigger an open public discussion on the most pressing social issues such as discrepancy between the law and its application in everyday life, overt as well as latent discrimination against women or concrete crimes perpetrated by men against women who strive for a dignified life. (IFF Bratislava)