In this conversation, Sedika Mojadidi discusses her documentary film Motherland Afghanistan.

Inspiration for the Film
Interest in Afghanistan
Rabia Balkhi Hospital
Made for Americans
What to Learn from the Film

An Afghan-American documentary filmmaker, Sedika Mojadidi, follows her father, who specializes in women’s medicine, to Afghanistan, where one in seven women dies during childbirth. Beginning his work at Kabul’s Laura Bush Maternity Ward in a city where unrest means your life is still very much at risk, filmmaker Sedika Mojadidi’s father tries to bring hope and make the best of a deplorable situation, with limited medical supplies, archaic equipment and backed up toilets.

But their second trip to a newly established rural provincial hospital in the Ghazni province proves to be a completely different and rewarding experience. It is a place where services and training are desperately needed, where women travel for days to get treated while enduring debilitating illnesses and conditions with grace and courage. A rare and moving glimpse of humanity and the power of compassion set against the backdrop of a land in turmoil and transition, the strength of these women and the quiet deeds of those who attempt to heal is utterly inspiring.

Additional Resources:
"Mojadidi Opens Her Lens to Afghan Motherland"
Women's eNews (April 4, 2007)