My Afghan Family: You can see the Annecy 2021 Jury Prize at the cinema

Jury Prize at the 2021 Annecy Animation Film Festival, My Afghan family The action takes place in Kabul in 2001. Hera, a young woman of Czech descent, decides to leave everything and follow whoever her husband, Nazir, becomes.

He then becomes a witness and actor to the uprisings his new Afghan family is experiencing on a daily basis. From her perspective as a European woman, against the background of cultural and generational differences, she sees that her daily life is shaken by the arrival of Maadi, an unusual orphan who will become her child.

Adapted from the novel Fresh To Petra ProchazkovaFeature film director Mikhela Pavlatova Is a deeply human work in which the author, inspired by his own journey, was able to sympathize with the efforts of Afghan women to live freely in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

The filmmaker of Repete and Tram explains in the film press:“I condemn, like Petra, the violence against women outside the walls of their homes and any violation of their rights.

This initial condition of Afghan women, described in the novel, creates discomfort as a European and seems unacceptable and reprehensible to me. Thanks to her unique gaze, Petra explores the inside of this world and reveals a palpable sensibility.

They are people living in Afghanistan, with blood and flesh, all different and separate. “Even in such a worldly hell, women can experience true and great love, small joys and great sorrows that deserve our attention.”

A topic that is sad with the news that now the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001, have regained power.

For the Czech director, the animation very quickly imposed itself on this adaptation. He explains:“Animation makes the story more accessible and clear. At the same time, the elegance of the image, the ability to expose the plans and move on to the essence tightened the story and gave more power to the most crucial situations.

I have not tried to stylize the image too much as the animation can encourage it, but I have used the tools of this medium in a natural way, always in the service of atmosphere and story. “First of all, I did not want to emphasize the aesthetics, on the contrary, the audience should forget about the form of focusing on the story and the characters.”

But the great strength of the novel and the film lies in the fact that it is a universal story. It is about family life, couples, striving for happiness and recognition, against the background of unexpected events that develop around them.

My Afghan family is to be found in the movies this Wednesday, at the age of 12.