An Afghan Teen Dares to Dream of Hip-Hop Stardom

Iranian filmmaker/director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami joins us to talk about her film Sonita, winner of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary. The film follows Sonita, a determined Afghan teen living in Tehran, who dreams of being a famous rapper. But the Iranian government doesn’t let girls sing solo, and her Afghan family expects her to become a teenage bride. Despite this, Sonita works to pursue her music career.

Event: There will be a screening of "Sonita" on Sunday, June 19th at 7:00 p.m. at the IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street). This is the Closing Night Screening of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, followed by discussion with filmmaker Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami and Liesl Gerntholtz, Women's Rights division director, HRW .