Impact Days Catalogue
fifdh
By Aeyliya Husain and Amie Williams

An Unfinished Journey

An Unfinished Journey
IMPACT DAYS

Forced to flee their country after the Taliban takeover in 2021, four Afghan women leaders struggle to keep the world’s attention on the unfolding crisis, while coming to terms with what it means to have their power usurped and two decades of progress dismantled. From their distant exile countries, these four female leaders – past parliamentarians, ministers, and journalists – watch the Taliban strip women and girls of the right to be educated, to work and to participate in society. No longer in positions of influence, they are forced to reinvent themselves to continue the fight for a free and just Afghanistan. Can these women succeed when the world’s attention has turned to the following headline and even the greatest superpower has admitted defeat?

Section : Impact Days
Country : Canada, Greece
Original languages : Dari, Pashto, English
Directors
Aeyliya Husain (Canada)
Amie Williams (United States)
Producers
Nadine Pequeneza (Canada)
Charlotte Uzu (France)
HitPlay Productions
Les Films d’ici
Completion
January 2024
Impact Statement
When US and allied forces transferred power to the Taliban in August 2021, the international community robbed Afghan women of their fundamental rights and freedoms. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls older than 12 cannot go to school. Women are no longer free to visit parks or gyms; they are banned from working for NGOs and the UN. With each Taliban decree, human rights advocates have called for gender apartheid to be listed as a human rights crime. Our overarching campaign goal is to better Afghan women's lives and give Afghan women a voice in the diplomatic discussions that will decide their fate. With goals ranging from changes in international law to fundraising for Afghan girls' education, we aim to connect with a wide variety of partners to safeguard the status of women everywhere.
The goal for An Unfinished Journey is to mobilize women's rights activists, and policy makers who can ally with the women in our film, and amplify the voices of those women in Afghanistan.
Impact Goals
  1. Support UN efforts to codify gender apartheid as a crime under international criminal law.
  2. Build public support for national legislation that recognises gender discrimination in Afghanistan as grounds for refugee asylum, particularly in countries where opinion is divided eg Switzerland.
  3. Influence the Canadian Parliament to enact its new Feminist International Assistance Policy, prioritising support for gender equality and women's rights.
  4. Help raise funding to support girls' and women's education in Afghanistan (underground schools and online education) and advocate for the reopening of girls' schools.
Impact Strategy
  • Our target audiences include policymakers, women's organisations and Muslim communities.
  • Organise a UN side-event screening during a General Assembly session to build support for recognising gender apartheid in international law.
  • Launch a petition at the film's FIFDH world premiere to show public support for Switzerland's new refugee law, which recognizes gender discrimination against Afghan women as a legitimate claim for asylum.
  • Organise an Ottawa screening for exiled Afghan women and policymakers to discuss Canada's new Feminist International Assistance Policy and its implications for women.
  • Promote a donation app at event screenings starting in April 2024 for our partner NGOs supporting girls' and women's education in Afghanistan.
  • Host at least ten fundraising screenings in Canada and the US to support girls' education in Afghanistan.
Contact
Primary contact
Aeyliya Husain (Canada): aeyliya@novemberfilms.ca

Organisations
Afghan Women’s Organisation – Canada

Broadcasters
ARTE – France
CBC – Canada
ERT – Greece

Distribution and sales
Game Theory – Canada

Others
Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran – Founder, Institute for International Women’s Rights
TARO Group PR – Canada

Organisations
Afghan Women’s Organisation – Canada

Broadcasters
ARTE – France
CBC – Canada
ERT – Greece

Distribution and sales
Game Theory – Canada

Others
Canadian Senator Marilou McPhedran – Founder, Institute for International Women’s Rights
TARO Group PR – Canada