Coming to PBS’s POV today, Monday, July 23:
THE WAR TO BE HER
Director:
Erin Heidenreich
Premiere:
Toronto 2016 (under original title GIRL UNBOUND: THE WAR TO BE HER)
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, Cleveland, Frameline, Outfest, Telluride Mountainfilm, MIX Brasil, Heartland, Milwaukee
About:
A young Pakistani woman defies a Taliban ban on sports.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Maria Toorpakai Wazir has spent her young life defying expectations. At age 25, she is an internationally competitive squash player. But in her home country of Pakistan, she remains controversial. In her family’s region of Waziristan, women are forbidden by the Taliban from playing sports. Erin Heidenreich follows Maria over several months as she represents Pakistan on the national team and carves out her own identity, despite threats to her family.
what (not) to doc 