In a nation where educating girls is seen as rebellion, as with the case of Afghanistan, a visionary woman, Roya Mahboob (Nikohl Boosheri) dares to teach young teenage minds to dream, when their innovation in computer robotics draws global attention, their success sparks hope and opposition, as threats loom and sacrifices are made, their courage and unity ignite a movement that could forever transform the world. With Roya's support, her brother, Ali (Noorin Gulamgaus), her sponsor, Jesus (Christian Contreras), Samir (Ali Fazal), and her team, how could she fail?
Others to round out the cast are Sara Rowe as Haadiya, Nada El Belkasmi as Sima, Nasser Memarzia as Abdul, Waj Ali as Ahmed, Anita Major as Sabine, Nina Hosseinzadeh as Taara, Mariam Saraj as Arezo and Christopher Goh as David.
This was directed with grit and passion by Bill Guttentag ("Death on the Job" '91, "The Cocaine War: Lost in Bolivia" (TV movie) '92, "5 American Kids--5 American Handguns" (TV movie, documentary) '95, "Memphis PD: War on the Streets" (TV movie) '96, "Life's Greatest Holiday Stories" (TV movie, documentary) '97, "The Last Days of Kennedy and King" (documentary) '98, "Images of Life" (TV movie) '98, "Hate.Com: Extremists on the Internet" (TV movie) 2000, "Nanking" '07, "Live!" '07, "Soundtrack for a Revolution" '09, "Knife Fight" '12, "Only the Dead" '15, "Sublime" '19, "Spyral" '24) plus TV and shorts. Obviously this filmmaker's resume has served him well in that he has learned how to encourage his actors to respond to this script with just the right amount of passion, pathos and compassion where needed. If you like and respect this director's brand, his "Blood Rhino" is in pre=production. It is incredibly penned well by writers, Elaha Mahboob, Jason Brown and Bill Guttentag, which is based on an incredible true story. Even though the vast amount of experience on this script is Guttentag--he took last place in the billing, this story was gripping from frame one to the ending. I suspect that Guttentag allowed Mahboob to take first place since this was based of his family. What these girls had to endure to get where they got to was a miracle in and of itself. Roya Mahboob was amazing in that she was truly willing to pay the cost to make this happen. This is a story that slowly creates a situation where the audience wants to stand up and cheer for these women. It comes from Angel Studios that brought us "Sound of Freedom", "Cabrini", "Sight" and others.
If you like underdog films, and who doesn't?, this film will make you think, make you grateful, and will make you stand up and cheer for these heroic women. It is a must see for all to learn from in that we all can be taught something in spite of our differences, and this does in spades!
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG 121mins.
