The Beauty Academy of Kabul

Directed by Liz Mermin

Shadow Distribution Inc.

4 stars

Perhaps the last thing post-Taliban Afghanistan needs is a beauty school. What difference can six American hairdressers make by teaching a group of burka-wearing Afghan women how to do their hair? But according to the new documentary “The Beauty Academy of Kabul,” women’s love of beauty transcends national boundaries and can be used as a successful development tool on the road to peace.

In the war-torn city of Kabul, the beauty school is more than an anomaly. The six American volunteers comprising Beauty Without Borders—of whom three are Afghan-Americans retuning home for the first time in more than twenty years—take turns teaching the latest cutting, coloring, and perming techniques to their first class of aspiring Afghan women. Through exploring the personal stories of these Afghan women, the film provides a rare and welcoming glimpse into these lives that have been tarnished by decades of war and loss.

In neatly edited footage of interviews and mini-biographies, the Afghan women speak candidly about their lives under the Taliban and during the civil war. They often follow horror stories with laughter, creating a disarming effect on the audience; however, after suffering all there is to suffer, these inspiring women seem ready to move on. They come across stunningly familiar and endearing as they articulate their views on family and marriage.

The elegant cinematography, accompanied by the cheerful music of the 1970s by “Afghan Elvis” Ahmed Zahir, renders the film incredibly engaging.

“The Beauty Academy of Kabul” portraits beauty both in form and content. Under the Taliban, the Afghan women were willing to risk their lives to secretly run beauty salons because they valued beauty whether the public could see their face or not. In the post-Taliban Afghanistan, they are eager to learn makeup application techniques because they see the economic opportunity in the trade.

This is why the American teachers emphasize the power of beauty to “heal”—they really believe Afghan women will one day earn freedom and equality through earning an income to support themselves and their family.

The film also raises questions about globalization, specifically about how American culture is received abroad. The many cultural and value exchanges between the American females and their Afghan students are humorous and telling. Each hairdresser brings her own ideas of beauty and freedom to the classroom and tells her students to use their power to transform their country. Whether this is imposing superficial American materialism or empowering the Afghan women is not obvious, despite the film’s optimistic overtone.

Bottom Line: A surprising and entertaining film, “The Beauty Academy of Kabul” will make you smile with the same satisfaction of a good hair cut, but you won’t leave the theater without a bit of a heartache.