In a land beset by endless strife, nothing must get in the way of the preservation of honour - even if that means sacrificing a loved one. Mena, a young, beautiful bride-to-be, lives in a small, remote village in northern Afghanistan, a harsh landscape that still shimmers with breathtaking colours. Respecting the deeply conservative local customs, she and her fiancé, Rahmat, have little contact yet cherish a special bond.

Education is a human right that years of war in Afghanistan have reduced to a privilege. Scores of poverty stricken youth have no understanding of what it means to learn something beyond the basic street hustling skills needed for begging, selling, or pickpocketing. This is the result of the decade-long fighting that has left the country destabilized and its people physically and mentally crippled. For children like Mina, the ousting of the Taliban does not signify freedom, but a newfound responsibility to enter the workforce in order to support their families. With women no longer prisoners of their home, Mina wanders the streets of Kabul paddling cheap trinkets to government workers and foreigners hoping to secure enough money to feed her Alzheimer stricken grandfather and her heroin addicted father. Relying on Mina's income to fuel his addiction and her presence to nurse her grandfather, Omar, Mina's father forbids her to attend school. But Mina is an impulsive twelve-year-old and ... Written by Yosef Baraki

2003 film by Siddiq Barmak