Stockholm Film Festival

Joy of Madness is a burning portrait of Afghanistan after
the fall of the Taliban regime. We get to follow the young
fi lmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf in her effort to build up the
grounds for a feature. Hana Makhmalbaf documents her
sister and seeks to erase the gap between fi ction and docu-
mentary. It is with great clarity you realize the true reactions
from Afghan women in a shift of order, how freedom is put
to the test and later slowly accepted. The old Afghanistan is
put against the new, and the inhabitants stand in the middle
of a crossfi re of reactions.
Joy of Madness is using the classic meta-method of a fi lm
in a fi lm. But more important than the technique is, indeed,
the subject. The document captures the latest shifts in an
ever-changing country, and shows the women’s anxiety
and problems with adjustment to the new society, from an
atmosphere that has always been one of rules and oppres-
sion. In addition to the importance of its burning subject, Joy
of Madness also stands out as a symbol of new times, being
a fi lm from and about Afghanistan.
KASPER SPERBER

Medverkande

Aghele Rezai,Mohsen Makhmalbaf,Samira Makhmalbaf

Producent

Makhmalbaf film house

Manus

Hana Makhmalbaf

Foto

Hana Makhmalbaf

Musik

Mohammad Reza Darvishi

Talat språk

Persian

 

Andra filmer från sektionen Asian Images

Se alla festivalfilmer från 2003