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Afghan Star

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by:
Directed by: Havana Marking
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 26, 2009
Running Time: 87 minutes, Color
Origin: UK | Afghanistan
Language(s): English | Pashtu | Dari
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
After 30 years of Taliban and wartime rule, pop culture is creeping back into Afghanistan in the form of Afghan Star, an enormously popular American Idol–type contest. Filmmaker Havana Marking follows the dramatic stories of four of the contestants over three months, from regional auditions to the finals in Kabul, giving us a new, and more human, look at this troubled part of the world. (Zeitgeist Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Boston Globe Ty Burr
One of the most hopeful and heart-rending movies I've seen this year.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Judging from this film, a pop cultural resurgence in Afghanistan seems ultimately unstoppable, even with a resurgent Taliban, if for no other reason than that 60 percent of the population is under 21. Also, this is a country, as we see again and again, that loves to sing.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
If nothing else, Afghan Star offers a reminder of how much has changed in Afghanistan from the late ’70s--when Kabul was a secular-oriented city with co-ed universities and a thriving nightclub scene--to the rise of the Taliban.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
The movie uses the talent show Afghan Star as a prism through which to examine the fragmented tribal culture of Afghanistan as reflected in the backgrounds of four finalists (two of them women) and the public responses to their performances.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Chris Barsanti
Wholly one-third of the country, some 11 million people, watched the finale. Marking's film is too astute to pretend that such fleeting things can bring about peaceful democracy, but it's also perfectly aware that they certainly can't hurt.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Afghan Star goes much deeper, eloquently conveying the tensions, small victories and shattering setbacks of a fragile democracy struggling to regain a once-flourishing culture.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
If you believe that bringing the questionable virtues of "American Idol" to Afghanistan would do that beleaguered nation no favors, the remarkable documentary Afghan Star will change your mind in an instant.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Focusing on the contestants who make the initial cut -- two men and two women -- the film can't resist wringing some American Idol-style suspense from speculation about who the eventual victor will be. But the movie also leaves no doubt as to who the real winners are.
Read Full Review >New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott
The movie documents much more than a talent competition -- it documents a political movement.
Read Full Review >St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams
Of all the films to come out the conflict, Afghan Star is the most provocative, because its message that people are essentially the same is a dubious, double-edge sword.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
The show works pretty much the same as "Idol" does, with Afghans voting by cellphone for their favorite performers. But this is Afghanistan, where the Taliban still has power, not America.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
Marking follows the finalists around on the last leg of their PR campaigns and captures something sweetly goofy, with an edge of creepy, about their aping of smarmy American self-promotion (kissing babies, etc).
Read Full Review >Variety Dennis Harvey
Not the slickest or most crowd-pleasing among many recent performance-competition docus, it's nonetheless absorbing for the light it casts on those many Afghanis who want an end to guns and fanaticism, and the return of a social liberalism.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
One of the more surreal docs to come down the pike in some time.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Fascinating and, when you see Afghan versions of Simon Cowell and Co. reacting to tryouts, a reminder of how fame and the thirst for it is the same in any language.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
