Movie: Writing Hawa

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• Location: Filmhuis Den Haag

Filmed over a period of five years, Writing Hawa tells the story of three generations of Hazara women from one family in Afghanistan. With unique access and deep empathy, director Najiba Noori captures her mother Hawa and her niece Zahra in their pursuit of emancipation from patriarchal traditions. Forced into marriage as a child, Hawa is 52 years old when she finally begins learning to read and write. With the support of her daughter, she opens a small textile business: she searches for traditional Hazara embroidery in the Bamiyan region and incorporates it into modern dresses she sells in Kabul. Eventually, Hawa rescues her granddaughter Zahra from the hands of her abusive father in a remote village and brings her to the capital. There, they study together and make plans for the future. But the Taliban takeover in August 2021 turns the lives of the three women upside down: Zahra is forced to return to the village she had escaped from, and Najiba is compelled to flee the country, eventually living as a refugee in France. From afar, she continues to help Hawa keep fighting for her dreams.

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