Now in Cinemas: Writing Hawa

Forty years after her arranged marriage as a child, Hawa finally begins to live an independent life and learns to read and write. However, with the return of the Taliban to power, her dreams, along with those of her daughter and granddaughter, are shattered by new challenges.

Filmed over a period of five years, Writing Hawa is the story of three generations of Hazara women from one family in Afghanistan. With unique access and empathy, director Najiba Noori captures her mother Hawa and her cousin Zahra in their quest to emancipate themselves from patriarchal traditions. Forced into marriage as a child, Hawa is 52 years old when she finally begins to learn to read and write. With the support of her daughter, she opens a small textile business: she searches for traditional Hazara embroidery in the Bamiyan region and transforms it into modern dresses that she sells in Kabul.

Eventually, Hawa rescues her granddaughter Zahra from the hands of her abusive father in a remote village and brings her to the capital. There, they study together and make plans for the future. But the Taliban takeover in August 2021 turns the lives of the three women upside down: Zahra has to return to the village she escaped from, and Najiba is forced to flee the country, after which she goes to live as a refugee in France. From a distance, she helps Hawa to continue fighting for her dreams.