The Boxing Girls of Kabul is a 2012 Canadian documentary film directed by Ariel Nasr. The film follows young women boxers, under which Sadaf Rahimi, and their coach Sabir Sharifi at Afghanistan’s female boxing academy, as these athletes face harassment and threats in their efforts to represent their country in international competition and attempt to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.[1][2]

Training takes place at Ghazi Stadium, Afghanistan’s national stadium, which had previously been the site of executions by the Taliban.[3]

The 52-minute documentary was produced by Annette Clarke for the National Film Board of Canada.[3] Julia Kent composed music for the film.[4]

Festivals and awards

The Boxing Girls of Kabul premiered at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2011[5] and Hot Docs International Film Festival (Toronto) in 2012,[6] where it won the Inspirit Foundation Pluralism Prize.[7] In March 2013, the film won best short documentary at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards.[8] Other awards include Best Documentary at the Viewfinders International Film Festival for Youth in Halifax (April 17 to 21 2012), and an Honourable Mention for the Colin Low Award at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver (May 4 to 13 2012).[9]

Distribution

U.S. distribution rights were acquired by In Demand. Other broadcasters include TV5 Québec Canada, Direct TV and DLA for Latin America, France Televisions, DBS in Israel, the Korean Broadcasting System and Japan's NHK.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Carrington, Julian (23 April 2012). "The Boxing Girls of Kabul". Torontoist. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  2. ^ Cole, Susan G. "The Boxing Girls of Kabul". Now. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Vlessing, Etan (30 April 2012). "NFB's 'The Boxing Girls of Kabul' Acquired by In Demand". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  4. ^ "The Boxing Girls Of Kabul". Hot Docs. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  5. ^ The Boxing Girls of Kabul | IDFA, retrieved 2017-10-23
  6. ^ "NFB's 'The Boxing Girls of Kabul' Acquired by In Demand". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
  7. ^ "2012 Awards - Hot Docs". www.hotdocs.ca. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
  8. ^ Nemetz, Andrea (March 4, 2013). "Filmmaker Busy on Awards Circuit". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  9. ^ "Our Collection". The Boxing Girls of Kabul. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  10. ^ Oliveira, Michael (17 February 2013). "Afghan teen stars to accompany Canadian Oscar nominee to show". CTV News. Canadian Press. Retrieved 18 February 2013.

External links

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for Best Feature Length Documentary and Best Short Documentary
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