By John Corrado

The 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival runs from April 25th to May 5th in Toronto

When Afghanistan fell back to the Taliban after the United States withdrawal in 2021, women almost immediately lost all of the progress that they had slowly made in the country. Girls weren’t allowed to continue school, and female members of parliament were no longer permitted to serve in government.

In their documentary An Unfinished Journey, co-directors Aeyliya Husain and Amie Williams follow four women from Afghanistan – including the former MPs Homaira Ayubi and Zefnoon Safi, former government minister Nargis Nehan, and former TV reporter Nilofar Moradi – who have now settled in Canada. The film follows these women as they try to adapt to their lives in Canada, while still fighting for the rights of the women and girls left behind in Afghanistan.

Husain and Williams take us through a brief history of Afghanistan, while mainly focusing on how the women are now trying to work with representatives of the Canadian government to improve things back home so girls can continue to get educations. “If a man is educated, he only changes himself,” former teacher Ayubi says at one point, but “if a girl is educated, she can change a family.” At 75 minutes, the film feels a bit short, but offers a mostly engaging portrait of these women. Their resilience, even in the face of insurmountable odds, is what carries through the film.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

An Unfinished Journey screens as part of the 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.