No Burqas Behind Bars

In the Takhar Prison in Afghanistan, there are 500 male inmates and around 40 women serving sentences. The women and their children are kept in a separate area, locked up in a prison within the prison. They live there together in a mini-society, often feeling safer than they did on the outside. Most of them have been sentenced to years in prison because they ran away from home, fleeing from their adulterous and abusive husbands. Filmmaker Nima Sarvestani managed to film within the walls of the prison yard, where she followed the adventures of Sara, Nadjibeh and Sima. Sara and her true love are both in prison because they refused to enter into arranged marriages with other people, while Nadjibeh and Sima escaped from violent households. In this postage-stamp-sized space, they try to process their traumatic pasts, build a new life and make plans for a better future. There are moments full of hope, fear and solidarity, but also the daily worries of washing, raising children and the occasional spats with one another. What binds these brave women together is their repressed, vulnerable position in society and the way they struggle with it.