A hush falls over the rackety classroom the moment an overdue teacher bursts through the door. When pressed to outline the day’s curriculum, an unprepared student jabbers out a couple of run-on sentences that end in apple-polishing. Sounds like a typical day in the homeroom. But this isn’t your average American grade school. It’s the first all-girls school in Deh’Sube, Afghanistan. In a society where females are prohibited from taking on leadership positions, the school’s founder and all of her teachers are women, but the headmaster is a man with a 6th grade education. Faculty members deserve combat pay. We frequently hear of teachers making out-of-pocket purchases to supply their students with materials not in the budget. Due to security concerns – not wanting students to be poisoned by what comes out of the faucet – Principle Hawa acts as the school’s official water-taster. The students have it even tougher. Where I come from a 70-year-old man walking down the aisle with a 14-year-old bride is called legalized rape. The stories are severe, the storytelling anything but. Writer-director Beth Murphy exercises great diligence, placing an emphasis on enlightenment, not exploitation. (2015) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.