Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 4 Ratings

  • Summary: 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 s to the finals in Kabul, giving us a new, and more human, look at this troubled part of the world. (Zeitgeist Films) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 17
  2. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Reviewed by: Whitney Borup
    80
    An inspiring, fun documentary.
  2. Reviewed by: Chris Barsanti
    80
    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.
  3. 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.

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Score distribution:
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  2. Mixed: 0 out of
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