Roya receives International Women of Courage Award

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Afghan filmmaker Roya Sadat was awarded the Women of Courage Award for 2018 during a ceremony organized in the US Department of State.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said “This year we have recognized 10 extraordinary women who have demonstrated not only courage and leadership, but a deep resolve to fight day in and day out for what they believe.” She said the formidable leaders include a former slave and anti-slavery activist, a human rights lawyer documenting abuse under the junta rule, a nun sheltering internally displaced people from violence, a writer, director, and producer who wrote scripts under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and a courageous advocate for the families of forcibly disappeared persons.

The Awards were distributed by the US First Lady Melania Trump to ten women hailing from Afghanistan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Guatemala, Hondurus, Italy, Rwanda, and Thailand. Nauert said Roya Sadat is being honored for refusing to be silenced in her home country. She uses the arts to raise awareness of the brutal challenges facing women and girls, and despite threats to herself, her cast, and her crew, she’s served as a pioneer for Afghanistan’s cultural reawakening.

“In fact, she wrote her film, “Three Dots,” while keeping it a secret from the Taliban, and many of you will recall that entertainment was not allowed – music, films, all of that was not allowed under the Taliban. Congratulations to you,” she added.