Afghan Star (2008)
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 60
Fresh: 60 | Rotten: 0
An enlightening and sobering documentary on Afghanistan's very own X-Factor.
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 18
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 0
An enlightening and sobering documentary on Afghanistan's very own X-Factor.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 7,208
My Rating
Movie Info
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 1996, among their many edicts was banning popular music, considering it a corrupting and sacrilegious influence. Though Taliban was swept from power in 2001, Islamic militants still regard music as sinful and have targeted Afghan musicians in assassination plots. Into this repressive culture comes a television show that has taken Afghanistan by storm -- Afghan Star, a talent search modeled after American Idol in which aspiring singers perform for
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All Critics (60) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (0) | DVD (1)
While its style and structure conform to the well-worn template established by docs like Spellbound, its success lies in creating an accessible, fun way into serious issues.
Top CriticLike The Kite Runner novel and movie, the documentary Afghan Star succeeds at dramatizing the lives of Afghans, but those we see on screen are real flesh-and-blood characters -- people who let their true feelings emerge.
An informative documentary revealing how decades of war and years of Taliban repression have fallen to the wayside, however briefly, as Kabul's answer to American Idol seduces a violence-weary Afghanistan.
One of the most hopeful and heart-rending movies I've seen this year.
This eye-opening film reveals that even systems as dubious as the Idol format mean dramatically different things when transferred to radically dissimilar cultures.
Havana Marking's excellent, illuminating film follows four Afghan Star finalists over the frenetic final months leading to the Moment of Truth.
Timely and intriguing docu was the winner of the Directing and Audience Awards at the Sundance Film Fest.
For all the dramatic pull of the competition and insight into current culture and politics in Afghanistan, it's a bit of a shame that the film itself is such a dry affair.
... more than a popular phenomenon, this documentary shows how a simple, completely apolitical piece of entertainment crosses ethnic, regional and cultural borders...
Proof positive you can't bomb people back to the Stone Age, if they're already there.
For once, the McDonald's-like spreading of American culture abroad seems to have actually been a good thing.
The film is both optimistic and depressing. This film is about a real war with real deaths that is going on in Afghanistan and one of the battlefields of that war is a pop music contest on television.
Afghan Star is an engaging and important film and what it lacks in depth, it makes up for in cultural impact. Worth seeing.
An inspiring, fun documentary.
One of the more surreal docs to come down the pike in some time.
Afghanistan's version of American Idol shines a spotlight on a culture in transition. Fascinating -- especially when it comes to the experiences of the woman who's risking her reputation and social standing in order to sing.
It's an upbeat film, though hardly a convincing one, that shows there's more to the popular TV show than entertainment.
The filmmaking itself is pretty much by the numbers...But there's some genuine tension as the competition field narrows.
The film's essential fascination and integrity swamp any qualms about its pacing or all-around moviemaking.
...by the end of the 88 minute journey you'll learn more about contemporary Afghanistan than you will from a month of watching television news in the United States.
Of all the films to come out of the conflict, Afghan Star is the most provocative, because its message that people are essentially the same is a dubious, double-edge sword.
Marking has a good eye for capturing the contradictions of Afghanistan.
This documentary about the Afghani version of American Idol is good and worth a look, but I was never swept up by it emotionally.
Audience Reviews for Afghan Star
Super Reviewer
So, while I agree with this moderately entertaining and insightful documentary that this television show where men and women occupy the same stage can lead to inspiring greater freedom, other conclusions concerning democracy and unity I am less sure of. While the contestants do run political style campaigns, this really should not be confused with the ballot box. Also, I bet that each ethnic group votes for their own primarily.
Super Reviewer
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June 25, 2009:
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Foreign Titles
- Afgan Star (DE)
