Nelofer Pazira
Acting
Biography
Nelofer Pazira is an Afghan-Canadian filmmaker, actress, journalist, and author, born in 1973 in Hyderabad, India. She was raised in Kabul, Afghanistan, and lived through a decade of Soviet occupation before fleeing to Pakistan in 1989 and immigrating to Canada in 1990. She studied journalism and English literature at Carleton University and earned a master’s degree in anthropology, sociology, and religion from Concordia University. In 2001, she starred in the film “Kandahar,” based on her real-life attempt to find a childhood friend. She later co-directed “Return to Kandahar” and authored the memoir “A Bed of Red Flowers.”
Known For
Polish-Flemish philosopher Alicja Gescinska interviews national and international personalities with diverse philosophical and religious backgrounds.
Wanderlust
After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her.
Kandahar
For more than forty years, British journalist Robert Fisk has reported on some of the most violent conflicts in the world, from Northern Ireland to the Middle East, always with his feet on the ground and a notebook in hand, travelling into landscapes devastated by war, ferreting out the facts and sending reports to the media he works for with the ambition of catching the interest of an audience of millions.
This Is Not a Movie: Robert Fisk and the Politics of Truth
In a land beset by endless strife, nothing must get in the way of the preservation of honour - even if that means sacrificing a loved one. Mena, a young, beautiful bride-to-be, lives in a small, remote village in northern Afghanistan, a harsh landscape that still shimmers with breathtaking colours. Respecting the deeply conservative local customs, she and her fiancé, Rahmat, have little contact yet cherish a special bond.
Act of Dishonour
With the Cold War about to break out in Afghanistan, young, lifelong friends Suraya and Sima must question their life choices and moral principles when they get involved in opposite sides of the conflict.
Sima's Song
Christian Frei's documentary traces the tragic tale of the giant Buddhas of Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley, which stood as monumental landmarks for 1,500 years until 2001, when the Taliban declared that all non-Islamic statues in the country be destroyed. Despite international protest, the statues were blown up. Through interwoven narratives from past and present, Frei's film sheds light on the disturbing consequences of religious fanaticism.
The Giant Buddhas
Nelofer Pazira, the star of the movie 'Kandahar,' returns to Afghanistan to seek out her childhood friend Dyana, whose story inspired that film. Landing in Kabul 13 years after her family left Russian-occupied Afghanistan, Nelofer unravels her past and the history of her country while searching for Dyana; the epic journey takes her to Kabul, Kandahar and Masir-e-Sharif, where Dyana's uncle last had contact with her family.
The Return to Kandahar
In the face of exile, five Afghan women’s commitment to freedom and equality empowers them to take the world stage and reclaim their homeland. Through a series of honest conversations, these extraordinary rebels reveal the deeply personal history of Afghanistan in all its complexity, beauty and struggle.