everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Best movie of this year hands down!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

A lot of fun.

At only seventy-four minutes in length "The Beauty Academy of Kabul" doesn't stick around very long, but there is a palpable power in its brevity. The film follows several hair stylists from the United States, including an Afghan refugee, into post-Taliban Afghanistan, as they train local women in the art of hair and make-up. Amazingly, some of these students had run beauty shops while the country was under the thumb of the Taliban. The film is quite fascinating in its simplicity, as it presents a story about building bridges between cultures and introducing peace to a war torn country with something as basic as scissors and a make-up brush. It's unexpectedly affecting, and captures a sense of rekindling misplaced hope in the region.

While I wished for a tighter narrative structure, or maybe a closer focus on particular women, more like "Born Into Brothels" did by following a handful of children closely, I enjoyed this film. It gives the viewer glimpses into the homes and daily lives of Afghan women, instead of just the street shots of scowling armed men we so often see in the news.It does make any culturally sensitive American cringe a bit when you see the hippie-dippy woman in John Lennon glasses telling an Afghan woman she needs to meditate and practice deep breathing before going home to slave for her strict, demanding husband and in-laws, or when you hear the abrasive New Yawk instructor upbraiding the students for not doing full face make-up and hair every day so they can represent the New Look to the rest of Afghan women, only to be told that if the women wear full makeup every day, they'll be punished by their husbands and in-laws for loose morals. Even so, I admired the instructors for taking on this project and bringing so much obvious joy to women whose lives seem to have held so little; and admired the students even more for their dogged determination to complete the training despite the demands of family and the lack of such seemingly ordinary things as driver's licenses.

This documentary is more than about teaching a few lucky Afghan women how to take care of other women's hair. What makes seeing this movie worthwhile are two things. First, seeing a bit of Kabul, its street life, its people and, sadly, the still visible destruction that is the result from many years of conflict starting with the Soviet invasion. Second, the candid commentary by the Afghan women about their role vis a vis their male relatives. Clearly this is still a retrograde male-dominated society despite the minor advances that have been made since the Taliban's ouster from power. Granted women's hands and feet are no longer being chopped off for exposing bits of uncovered skin. But for the women of Kabul, and more so for those of the rest of the country, there is a long way to go before they recover the relative social freedoms they enjoyed during the period of Soviet occupation. One readily sympathizes with the resigned frustration and powerlessness the American women feel when they hear their Afghan counterparts talking casually about the restrictions that oppress them. It is not the US occupation, which is not overtly shown in the film, that is likely to change a culture that is prepared to condemn a man to death for converting to another religion. One can only hope that time will erode the reactionary nature of the Afghani -- and all others for that matter -- faith-based system.

The idea that a beauty parlor could significantly change the lives of women who are forced to wear full burkas seemed not only uninteresting to me, but downright absurd. This film was a real surprise with its stunning digital photography and a really important self-esteem message. These women really do benefit from being beautiful, even if it is UNDER the burka. I think this film hasn't gotten USA distribution because most people have preconceived notions about the importance of hairdressers and beauty consultants, but this film completely changed my opinion about this profession. They really are psychological, emotional, and physical make-over artists and after I write this I'm going for a facial (just kidding). This is a truly wonderful film and I hope it gets off the shelf someday. The Middle East is a hot topic, wake-up people - this one deserves to be greenlit!