War and Love in Kabul

Hossein and Shaima have loved each other since childhood. As teenagers they were separated by war. They meet again in Kabul in the 1990s. Poverty forces Hossein to fight in the war. A shell splinter leaves him a paraplegic. Shortly afterwards, Shaima is sold in marriage to a man 40 years her senior. Shaima, who is the man′s fourth wife, falls pregnant. But Shaima′s husband still owes half the dowry, and so her father brings her back into the constraining patriarchal fold of the family, where she lives today with her five-year-old daughter.

This situation doesn′t prevent the two lovers from seeing each other as much as possible – even though this means going against their families′ hard and fast rules. They both dream of living together in peace. Caught on the horns of a dilemma, and in constant fear of revenge on the part of the male members of both families who adhere to the harsh tribal laws handed down from the Middle Ages, Hossein and Shaima struggle under the most difficult circumstances imaginable to hold on to their love.

This film describes the infringement of a taboo, the outcome of which is still uncertain. In an environment where war and want have dealt heavy blows on compassion and humanity and the family is the only remaining social bond, the chances of personal happiness are very slim indeed.

Source: 59. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)