A few months ago I was lucky enough to go watch this documentary at George Washington University and get to meet the Director, Phil Grabsky.  This documentary follows the life of a simple boy named Mir who's entire life is devastated and changed forever because of the war(s) in Afghanistan.  It follows 10 years of his life from the age of 8 to that of 18.  Not only is this film cinematographically breathtaking, but the lack of any commentary and only subtitles while he follows Mir's life and family really allows you to come to your own conclusions. He is a boy who spends the first half of his life living in a cave to survive and the second half struggling between the decision of whether or not he should continue school or help his family farm.  All I can tell you is that Mir has the most beautiful soul.

Unforuntately we are fed so much by the media which only provides a Western perspective on the war in Afghanistan and we are depersonalized to their true struggles.  I would like to encourage people to have more conversations with Afghan's who are now living in the United States, to listen to their music which is unbelievable and learn the Atan (sp?), to eat their amazing rice and eggplant and to most importantly hear each of their sides of the story and how their lives have been changed forever.   Come to Diplomatic Language Services and have lunch with us if you're in the Rosslyn area   There are Dari and Pashto instructors who are more than willing to share everything they have wtih you including their honest opinions!

I want to thank Nasrat from DLS for constantly setting up amazing events like going to watch this documentary for us all to get to know more about Afghan culture and its people.  If any of you can, please go ahead and buy the documentary when it comes out as you won't regret it.