Kamay

In the mountains of central Afghanistan, a Hazara family embarks on a journey for truth and justice after their daughter Zahra mysteriously dies at Kabul University. A moving and poetic contemplation of love, loss, and perseverance, on the eve of the Taliban takeover of the country.

Kamay is a wild, self-sufficient plant growing in the mountains of Central Afghanistan. According to director Ilyas Yourish, the plant is emblematic of the Hazaras, one of the most persecuted people of Afghanistan. ‘It is a testament to resilience and resistance,’ he says. His film Kamay is a deeply touching documentary about a Hazara family living in the remote mountains, who learn that their daughter Zahra has died in Kabul, where she studies at the university.  

Filmed over the course of six years and told through the eyes of Zahra’s younger sister Freshta, the family gradually learns more and more about what happened to Zahra. Struggling to survive in a remote mountain community, parents Hawa and Younes attempt to find justice, undertaking day-long bus rides to Kabul. But their fight against the university and the powers that be is an uneven one, while at the same time, the threat of a Taliban takeover permanently looms.