Afghan Star

Afghan Star (2008)

This documentary on the effect the talent competition "Afghan Star" has on the incredibly diverse inhabitants of Afghanistan affords a glimpse into a country rarely seen. Contestants risk their lives to appear on the television show that is a raging success with the public and also monitored closely by the government.

Date of release
2008-12-03
TMDB
6.3 / 10 (22)
Runtime
1h 27m
Genres
Documentary, Music
Director
Havana Marking

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 2 · Nominations: 1. Including: Sundance World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary; Sundance World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary

Afghan Star is a 2009 British documentary film following four contestants in the Afghan music competition Afghan Star. Afghan Star was directed by Havana Marking and is distributed by Zeitgeist Films. The film was acclaimed by critics.

Filming/Production

Director and co-producer Havana Marking received funding from the Channel 4 BritDoc Foundation (now known as Doc Society) on the basis of her idea for the film. After spending a month gathering footage for a taster tape and planning the project, the documentary was commissioned by British channel More4.

Marking spent four months in Afghanistan filming, following the development of the four focal characters competing in the show. Producers worked with Afghanistan-based television station Tolo TV. Filming primarily took place in Kabul, where the competition for Afghan Star is held and the show is produced, but also features the cities of Herat and Kandahar when documenting the stories of Setara and Lema, two of the competitors.

Much of the film's decision-making was quite reactive and adapted to the circumstances faced by the filmmakers. Marking notes the mounting tensions and unpredictability of her own situation in the filming process in an interview, stating that while she wasn't threatened directly, a "general protocol had to be followed." She remarked about the danger presented by accompanying a contestant to her hometown of Kandahar and, instead, opted to give the…

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