All Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2015 Films
Mina Walking (Meena Sargardan)
Ajyal Competition - Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2015
Yosef Baraki / Feature Narrative / Canada, Afghanistan / 2015 / 110 min / Colour / DCP2K / In Dari / Arabic, English subtitles / Gulf Premiere
Rated: Parental guidance advised for viewers under the age of 15. Individuals under the age of 15 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or over.
Synopsis
Twelve-year-old Mina’s life is a relentless string of difficulties. Saddled with caring for her senile grandfather and supporting her layabout of a father, she works tirelessly, making money as best she can by selling cheap trinkets on the streets of Kabul in order to purchase food and medicine. Even while shouldering such heavy responsibilities, Mina takes advantage of opportunities to improve her family’s lot: she attends school against her father’s wishes and tries to find work as a seamstress. In war-torn Afghanistan, however, making ends meet is difficult for everyone – especially a young girl – and Mina encounters obstacles, betrayal and closed doors at every turn.
Despite Mina's compassionate if rebellious nature, her desperate situation has made deceit a necessary evil to keep her family afloat. One fateful decision, however, starts a chain of events that is out of her control, and eventually she finds herself backed into a corner, searching for a means of escape.
Carried along by a powerful performance from young Farzana Nawabi, Yosef Baraki’s debut feature is not only a harsh and affecting coming-of-age tale, but also an astute examination of the plight facing the impoverished people of Afghanistan today.
About the Director
Yosef Baraki is an Afghan filmmaker who emigrated to Canada at the age of nine. He studied at Humber College in Toronto; his thesis film, ‘Der Kandidat’ (2013), was the recipient of the Norman McLaren Award at the Montreal World Film Festival and the Best International Short Film Award at the Afghanistan Human Rights Film Festival. Baraki filmed ‘Mina Walking’ in 19 days with non-professional actors and heavy improvisation in the busiest of Kabul’s environments.
Credits
- Director
- Yosef Baraki
- Screenwriter
- Yosef Baraki
- Producer
- Andrew Korogyi, Asef Baraki
- Editor
- Yosef Baraki, Andrew Korogyi
- Music
- Vaheed Kaacemy
- Cinematographer
- Yosef Baraki
- Sales Company
- Minerva Pictures
- Production Company
- Baraki Film
- Cast
- Farzana Nawabi, Qadir Aryaie, Safi Fanaie, Hashmatullah Fanaie, Masoud Fanaie, Marina Golbahari