If ever a film represented the “Look good. Feel good. Do good.” philosophy, it’s this moving documentary about six volunteer American hairdressers who, funded by the U.S. beauty industry, opened a beauty school in post-Taliban Afghanistan.
With a sympathetic but unflinching eye, filmmaker Liz Mermin reveals the women behind the burkas — including Fauzia who was wed at 14, Nafisa who is married to her own cousin, and Hanifa whose father has two wives — and shows that, despite our clashing cultures, we share the same hopes and dreams. It becomes clear that all around the globe, a salon is the ultimate level playing field, providing a female haven for building bonds and sharing secrets.
Mermin captures powerful images of the men outside, armed with rifles and ready to destroy the world while the women work inside with equipment of their own – perm rods and blowdryers — to try to make it more beautiful.
“The Beauty Academy of Kabul” dispels the notion that beauty is trivial and proves what women everywhere know – that there’s nothing like a good hair day to empower you and give you the strength to go on.
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