They are rights we take for granted in America. Women can pursue an education, choose their careers, and participate in public life.
Those freedoms vanished in Afghanistan in 2021, after the Taliban took control of the nation.
A documentary that made its U.S. premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival looks at the situation through the eyes of five Afghan women who now live abroad and have the freedom to talk about it.
"Now, whenever people ask me if I am an Afghan woman, the response is 'Oh, that's too bad.' I look them in the eye and say 'Be careful, we are the worst case scenario. It might happen to your country. It might happen to your women,'" said Afghan-Canadian filmmaker Brishkay Ahmed, in a clip from the movie In The Room. She directed the documentary.
"All these things have happened to Afghan women," added Ahmed. "Right now, they're in the worst situation. No other place in the world has so many limitations. There are basic human rights that are unavailable."
Ahmed feels a responsibility to speak out because those in Afghanistan can't do it safely. She fled the country and has lived in Canada since she was 12.
Vida Samadzai, who also appears in the documentary, made history as the first Afghan woman to compete in an international beauty pageant, something that still has repercussions decades later.
"I just wish I could go back," said Samadzai. "I'm not allowed. I'm a bad girl. They've written a letter saying, 'if she ever returns, we're going to handcuff her from the plane and put her in jail.'"
Samadzai took part in the Miss Earth competition. She admitted that she didn’t realize the furor it would cause.
"As soon as I walked out of the plane in the Philippines, it just hit. The news was instant."
Bomb threats followed, so she rode in a different vehicle so the other women in the pageant's buses wouldn't be endangered.
Samadzai continues to speak out about the oppression of girls and women in her homeland. She still deals with threats. But she believes that lending her voice to the cause is important, so the world knows what's happening.
In the Room was produced by the National Film Board of Canada. It made its U.S. premiere at this year's Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
