Afghan Star (film)

Afghan Star is a 2009 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.

Contestant Setara Hussainzada is the first of the four to be eliminated. During her farewell performance she dances with free body movements without her hijab, as opposed to the more constrained dancing considered socially appropriate. After Daoud Sediqi decides to air the footage, there is outrage in the conservative Muslim community and Setara receives death threats and is evicted from her apartment. She explains that she is openminded and that she wants other Afghans to be as well. She then returns home to her family. The other female contestant Lema Sahar, a Pashtun, is eliminated in the last round leaving Naabzada and Sakhizada. While onethird of Afghanistan watches, Rafi Naabzada wins the final round, becoming the Afghan Star.The film was universally acclaimed by critics. The film currently holds a 100 fresh aggregate rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is the best rated film of 2009. It was also labeled a NYTs Critics Pick after Stephen Holden recommended it in his review for The New York Times. Holden praised the film for the way in which it explores modern Afghan culture through the prism of its four protagonists and their own personal struggles. ........

Source: Wikipedia