Winner, Best Documentary Feature Film, 2011
In Afghan culture, it is possible for a father to sell his daughter and receive anywhere between nine cows to fifty sheep. Sabere was only seven when her father died in the war and her uncle ‘inherited’ her. Her uncle then sold her when she was ten to a 50 year-old man who made her pregnant four times, but she miscarried each time. Finally, at 16, Sabere fled and now lives in a safe house in Mazar-e Sharif. Sabere’s mother, who was also inherited by the same uncle, bore him a daughter, Farzaneh, who is now eleven. In order to afford a new, young wife who might provide him with a son, the uncle is determined to sell Farzaneh when she is 15 years old. But the buyer’s family wants to take her immediately.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
