Parwareshgah (The Orphanage)

In Soviet-era Afghanistan during the late 1980s, 15-year-old Qodrat makes his living on the streets of Kabul selling movie tickets on the black market. The little money he does make he uses for food and the Bollywood films that serve as an escape for him. When he is rounded up by the police and sent to a Soviet orphanage, however, Qodrat’s life is suddenly ruled by a hierarchy of bullies and the anxieties of a shifting political situation in Kabul.Still, Qodrat and his few friends at the orphanage are able to find refuge from the turmoil in their shared love for Bollywood. Director Shahrbanoo Sadat oscillates between scenes of harsh reality and pure fantasy to form a delicate coming-of-age narrative. Introduction by Samhita Sunya (UVA)

This film is part of the Middle Eastern and South Asian Film series supported by the UVA Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures and the UVA Department of Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures

Middle Eastern & South Asian Sidebar

Date

Thursday, October 24

Time

5:30 PM

Location

Violet Crown 6 & 7