Kabul, Kabul
Documentary film-maker Sedika Mojadidi, who lives and works in New York City, visited my class yesterday. I know her back from my days in Gainesville, where she was my student. Sedika is an Afghan-American and the video-film she showed us was a short called “Zulaikha” about an Aghani grocery store-owner in California. In the film, Zulaikha talks about her grief over the September 11 bombings and reflects on how she had never watched the footage that day–after all, that is the life she had always known in her earlier days in Afghanistan, when the bombing would start and she would come home with her shoes filled with blood. The film is a tender portrait of trauma, and it is so delicate because it avoids all sensationalism. The writing is subtle but also probing: Sedika asks Zulaikha why she has pasted an American flag in her store. Zulaikha replies that she was grieved by what had happened, and then she adds, “So many died in Afghanistan, America never hung our flag once.”
Sedika’s films are distributed by Third World Newsreel. She is currently completing a documentary feature called “Motherland, Afghanistan” about her father’s work as an OB/GYN in Kabul.
Dear Amitava Kumar,
I’ve formed a grassroots effort to raise awareness on refugee issues in the Washington, DC area with a couple of volunteer friends. You can learn more about us at our website. We hope to organize our third film screening and discussion event this fall to focus on the Afghani refugee experience. I’d like to contact Ms. Sedika Mojadidi about her movie Kabul, Kabul. Is it possible for you to pass her contact information on to me or pass my information on to her? I would very much appreciate your help.
Many sincere thanks,
Vivian Nguyen
the.refugee.experience.series@gmail.com
Comment by Vivian — July 1, 2008 @ 11:35 pm