Tschadari & Buz Kaschi - Afghan Women Today

Documentary by Elke Jonigkeit - 99', 16mm / VHS / 1989

Women in Afghanistan

These two contrary poles are forming a unit in the afghan society: Tschadari demonstrates the withdrawn position of the woman in public life; the popular Buz Kaschi game showes which qualities are especially expected from man, namely strenght and hardness.

'Tschadari & Buz Kaschi' tries to develop a feeling for the difficulty of afghan women today. The film sees with the eyes of a woman - from an european point of view - on the strange feeling of life of the afghan woman.

An important result of the war: Afghan society is facing a change.

Everything gets lost in the current events of war: Life and property, rights and reputation, ancient traditions and solid roleschemes. The balance between tradition and renewal, between islamic belief and socialism/communism, between ' duty to their husbands' during that time of war and women claiming to self-determination, is almost impossible to carry out. The polarisation in politics - socialism/communism opposed to islamic fundamentalism - forces the women more and more, to choose a side. The ' pathway ' that many people would strive for, is, in this tattered state or disunion, obstructed.

Berlinale 1989
Prädikat "Wertvoll"
Sent in the First German TV-Program, ARD

Director: Elke Jonigkeit
Music: Henning Christiansen
Photography: Dariusz Panas
Sound: Nuruliah Ebrahimy, Pascaie Riou
Editing: Wenda Zeman, Elke Jonigkeit
Translation: Nuruilah Ebrahlmy
Interpreter: Matin Gul Hazrat
Produced 1989, colour, 99', 16 mm (German, English, Spanish), VHS-tape in German.

Photograph by Elke Jonigkeit

The differing misfortunes and lifestyles are brought together in this film: the life of the women, who escaped to pakistan and of those, who stayed in afghanistan - deliberately or enduring the situation; the active woman, who fights for resistance on the side of the Mudjahedin, and the socialistic woman, who is a worker. The observer gets a view of both situations: what is being done on the socialistic way of life in afghanistan, and on the model 'islamic republic afghanistan' in the pakistanian exile. As always, in times of war, women are used for dangerous missions/ - and as spys, they nurse the injured and they look after the elders and children, so that they can survive. They have - 'equal responsibility' as men - to fully deal with the results of war: they are also in prisons, are tortured and murdered. They are raped, they have to leave their properties and flee in other countries. The war gives rise to other behaviours among women and as a result they have to be accepted by men. The women have taken on duties and responsibilities, that were traditionally reserved for men. The ancient and solid relationship between man and woman has become unstable. While the main figur of the fundamentalists, Gulbodin Hekmatyar and the governor of the ' democratic republic of afghanistan ', Dr. Najibullah, implore irreconcilable differences with alike words; the identity of the afghan woman is being tested.