25 Darsad

In 2005 Afghanistan elected its first parliament. According to a gender-based quota, 25% of the 249 seats in the parliament were to be allocated to women. The movie 25 Darsad (percent) is a documentary about the daily lives and work of these female members of the Afghan Parliament. It sheds a light on the important role of women MPs and shows the how the women challenge the patriarchal power structure in a traditional society where women have completely been banned from socio-political participation during the Taliban era. The documentary uncovers the women’s personal and professional efforts for changing the Afghan Society. 

After the movie, there will be a follow up discussion with the filmmaker Malek Shafi’I, the former Afghan MP Azita Rafat and Dr. Andrea Fleschenberg dos Ramos Pinéu from the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Humboldt-Universität. The discussion will focus on the future of the women’s civic and political participation, as a viable genuine movement, ahead of the “talks” with the Taliban and its uncertain Outcomes.

With:

• Azita Rafat, former Member of Parliament in Afghanistan
• Malek Shafi’I, director of „25 Darsad“
• PD Dr. Andrea Fleschenberg dos Ramos Pinéu is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Languages: 
Film: Dari with English subtitles
Discussion: English

Admission is free, registration not necessary.

Agenda:
16.00 Welcoming Remarks & Introduction of Panelists
16.20-17.00 Movie Screening
17.00-18.30 Panel discussion
19.00 Light refreshment

Speakers:

PD Dr. Andrea Fleschenberg dos Ramos Pinéu is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and worked from 2011-2017 as DAAD Long Term Guest Professor at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Her research interests include gender and politics, Comparative Politics, Peace and Conflict Studies as well as Critical Research Methodologies in volatile contexts in South and Southeast Asia. Since 2007 she conducted a number of studies on women’s political participation and gender quota dynamics in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mss Azita Rafat is a former member of the Afghan parliament, a teacher’s trainer and human rights activist from Badghis province of Afghanistan. Mss Rafat had to work in the field of health and education, assisting women and children in villages during the Taliban regime. After the fall of the Taliban she worked as a medical translator and trainer for the German NGO “Malteser” in Badghis and with UNAMA in voter registration. She was an independent member of the parliament and a member of the “immunity and privileges of parliamentarians commission” and Deputy chair of the Anti-Narcotics Committees as well as the Chairwoman of Youth caucus of the Afghan Parliament. Ms. Rafat was the head of the communication office of President Ghani and the spokeswomen in the 2014 Presidential Election. She is a single mother of four daughters.

Mr. Malek Shafi’l is an Afghan filmmaker and the co-director of the documentary “25 darsad”. He has been directing and producing documentaries for the last 15 years in Afghanistan. In 2006 he founded the Afghanistan Cinema Club BASA and also founded the Afghanistan International Human Rights Film Festival. His work mostly focuses on the lives and issues of women, minorities and socio-political progression in Afghanistan. Mr. Shafi’l has worked numerous times with Diana Saqeb, an Afghan female director. Their documentary “Muhtarama” received an Award from Yamagata,a Japanese Documentary Film Festival.

Contact:
Fabian Heppe
Referat Asien /Asia Division
heppe@boell.de
+49 30 285 34 369