Kirsi Mattila

Marzia, My Friend is the story of an Afghan woman in her twenties, who like all young people dreams of love, freedom and an interesting job. She dreams of peace and independence, but because she lives in Afghanistan, her dreams are revolutionary. Ultimately Marzia’s story becomes a symbol of the wider struggle of Afghan women: it is about the right to make decisions about your own life. The film follows Marzia’s life from spring 2011 to the end of 2014, when international troops were due to leave Afghanistan.

The birth experience affects the whole life. Two Finnish birth experts, midwife Kirsi and doula (birth support person) Anna-Riitta, work to improve birth practices and empower birth givers. Observational yet strongly cinematic, The Labour of Pain and Joy explores the personal, social and mythic levels of birth.

What happens when you can no longer practice the profession that is part of your identity? You Can’t Stop the Music is a portrait from today’s Afghanistan, where life in the shadow of the Taliban can at times seem surreal. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, Akbar Adeli was a music student at Kabul University. For conservative Afghans, music had been suspect even before the Taliban takeover, but it soon became a gamble with one’s life – especially since Akbar plays Western pop music.

The 14-year-old Nepalese girl Rekha is yearning to become an English teacher. But the dream is almost impossible to realise, as Rekha's family is planning to marry her off to a young boy in the neighbouring village. 'The Beloved Daughter' is a colourful but delicate tale about how poverty and cultural traditions force Rekha's father to send her away from the family and make her step into adulthood at a far too early age. For even though child marriage is prohibited by law – even in Nepal – the tradition is still widespread and responsible for determining the fate of children like Rekha all over the world.