The Secret Reading Club of Kabul awarded at CPH:DOX
The documentary film won the main prize of its section.
Image: Kathrine Thude / CPH:DOX
The Secret Reading Club of Kabul, directed by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen, has won the NORDIC:DOX Award, the main prize in the competitive section for Nordic documentary films at CPH:DOX.
Set in Taliban-ruled Kabul, a group of young women risk everything to secretly read banned books.
The jury statement reads: “This film exposes the brutal dismantling of women’s rights under an authoritarian regime. In doing so, it affirms the power of documentary cinema to make injustice visible and the voice of the oppressed heard. We are grateful for this piercing call coming from Afghan homes turned prisons. We hear you. You are not forgotten.”
The Secret Reading Club of Kabul is produced by Pauliina Piipponen and Marko Talli for Yellow Film & TV.
The Honorary Mention of the NORDIC:DOX section went to Homesick, by Taekyung Tanja In Wol Sørensen. The Danish-South Korean-Finnish co-production is supported by the Finnish Film Foundation. Finnish co-producer is Virpi Suutari for Euphoria Films.
“Through great precision and resilience the director creates an echo chamber where the voices of silenced children can circulate freely,” the jury stated.
See a list of all awarded films: