Filmed over five years, WRITING HAWA follows three generations of Hazara women from the same family in Afghanistan. With unique access and empathy, director Najiba Noori films her mother Hawa and niece Zahra in their aspirations to free themselves from patriarchal traditions. Forced into marriage at the age of 13 to a much older man, the now 52-year-old Hawa spends her time confined to the home to care for her ailing husband. Fed up with the drudgery and isolation of her daily life, Hawa sets out to open a small textile business.

WRITING HAWA is an essential testimony of women’s resilience in the face of oppression and the dreams cut short by the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

Watch the film here.