Act of Dishonour

Ontario Centre. ;Produced by Foundry Films Inc. and Nomad Films Inc. in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada, in association with Kandahar Films and with the assistance of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.

Available to CAMPUS subscribers only.

Writer/director, Nelofer Pazira ; producer, Daniel Iron, Anita Lee, Mark Johnston ; cast, Marina Golbahari, Abdul Ghafar Qoutbyar, Masood Serwary, Nelofer Pazira, Ali Hazara, Ali Fazil, Ben Campbell, Greg Bryk ; director of photography, Paul Sarossy ; editor, Christopher Donaldson ; art director, Fakhruddin Maqsood Ayam ; music, Christopher Dedrick ; cast, Abdul Hamid Houzari, Rajab Huseinov, Najib Wardak, Omed, Waris Sultani, Mehri Qurbonkhonova, Aaquila Ramazan, Salman Ramazan, Lila Mehrab, Tayiba Ramazan, Ebloev Mehrojiddin, Ahmad Javod, Sherali Safarov, Firdaus, Amir Shahmirzoev, Nazarof Bobojon, Bahrom Mirzorahim, Ahmad Noveed, Naweed, Ilija Todorovic, Mark Johnston, Ilesov Shomiddin, Khudoerov Qiem, Mahmadiev Komil, Siroj Mahmadiev, Dustov Abdullo, Mirzoev Jovidon, Odinaev Saymuhiddin, Mirzoev Ma'ruf, Iskander, Saddiq Barmak ; sound recordist/mixer, Robert Fletcher ; sets, Muhamed Dustov, Sobullah, Dawlat ; makeup, Lilya Sorokopood ; sound supervisor, Jane Tattersall ; sound effects editor, Kathy Choi ; re-recording mixer, Lou Solakofski, Kirk Lynds ; foley artist, Virginia Storey.

In a land beset by endless strife, honour can come at a high price – even for the innocent.

Mena, a young, beautiful bride-to-be, lives in a small, remote village in northern Afghanistan, a harsh landscape that still shimmers with breathtaking colours. Respecting the deeply conservative local customs, she and her fiancé, Rahmat, have little contact yet cherish a special bond. The arrival of a Canadian film crew briefly opens a window on a new world for Mena, a foray beyond the boundaries of convention that leads her inexorably down a dangerous road. 

Directed by Nelofer Pazira, the star of Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s acclaimed Kandahar and co-director of the documentary Return to Kandahar, Act of Dishonour is a compelling drama in which East and West, love and honour, modernity and custom clash with tragic consequences. In this rich microcosm of a fractured society, many stories intertwine, including those of Mejgan (played by Pazira), the Afghan-Canadian translator who befriends Mena, and thoughtful Ali, a member of an ethnic minority who wrestles with the prospect of eternal exile from his childhood home.
 
Act of Dishonour shuns easy answers, challenging rigid moral paradigms and preconceptions on both sides of the cultural divide. This eloquent, nuanced portrait of life in Afghanistan is part lament against injustice, part testament to the spirit of a people who have survived decades of war.

 

14-18.

Régie du cinéma du Québec rating: G.

CHV rating: G.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.