'Afghan Star' review

Lima Sahar (Credit: Zeitgeist Films)

The Brits launched it as “Pop Idol,” the U.S. knows it as “American Idol,” but what happens when a globally successful TV talent show concept enters a country where music had been banned for several years? Just a few years after the simple acts of singing and dancing were considered criminal under a Taliban run government, Afghanistan television begins airing “Afghan Star” and this documentary tracks four contestants in the show’s wildly popular third season to discover what it looks like when a repressed country rediscovers pop culture.

The buzz: “Afghan Star” premiered in the World Cinema section of this year’s Sundance film festival and went on to win the Audience Award and a jury prize for directing. The film was obviously made prior to the most recent efforts of the Taliban to regain control in Afghanistan, but captures a fascinating positive turning point that may prove irreversible.

The verdict: Not the slickest doc around, “Afghan Star” still manages to provide a compelling and easily accessible window into an extreme culture. The comparisons between “Star” and “Idol” range from quaint—there are laughably bad singers in Afghanistan too—to shocking—only three out of the 2,000 applicants are women. First time feature director Havana Marking uses her behind the scenes access to consider a wide range of topics, including what it’s like to rebuild a country’s media, the importance of music to a nation’s culture, how the show’s voting system mirrors democracy and the bravery of female contestants whose very presence on television leads to death threats. In the end, who wins and loses the competition is incidental. The power of Marking’s film comes from the fact the competition exists at all.

Did you know? Controversy followed the film’s Sundance premiere when “Afghan Star” host Daoud Sediqi failed to return home after he was allowed to attend the festival to promote the movie. It is assumed he is seeking asylum in the U.S. rather than go back to life in Afghanistan. One of the season three contestants, Omaid Nizami, who was already working with the show as a co-host, was promoted to full time host in Sediqi’s absence.

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