The Secret Reading Club of Kabul is a documentary created and directed by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen. The film dives into the brave lives of a group of young women who formed a secret reading circle in the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, where women are prohibited from studying, working, and speaking freely. It premieres on Monday, March 16, in the Nordic:DOX competition program of the 23rd edition of the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival.
The film holds a personal touch from Director Shakiba Adil. Adil is no stranger to the hardships of living under Taliban rule as a woman. Throughout her youth and into the years of early adulthood, she would live through the rise and fall of the first Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In the years to follow, she would end up being the first woman to appear on Afghan television.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the two directors sat down to explain a bit about their relationship and the journey of creating this project. The directors met while working on a project in Finland. In that same period, Adil was away in Kabul working when the Taliban rose back into power. Hirvonen reached out to Adil, knowing she would be a target for her work in media and as a women’s rights activist. With her help, Adil was able to evacuate Afghanistan.
With the topic of the film being centered around the valiance of the reading club, Adil and Hirvonen ensured that these women were to stay protected while still being heard loudly around the world. As they briefly cover how the story of these young women in the film came about, they emphasize the story’s parallels to The Diary of a Young Girl. The desire Adil had to get this story to other women in Afghanistan created the fearless book club who were willing to risk their lives to elevate the voices of those who cannot be heard.
Adil and Hirvonen hope to use their film to gain attention from the international community and put a stop to the human rights crisis happening against the women of Afghanistan.
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