Sisters
Documentary on Zohra, the only all-female orchestra in Afghanistan, and the lives of its young musicians.
Sisters follows UK musician, Dan Blackwell to Kabul to meet Afghanistan's first ever female orchestra ‘Zohra’, the first female orchestra in a country where it is forbidden for women and girls to play music. Every member of this orchestra has faced terrible adversity to play music. Dan learned about Zohra online and got in contact with them first via Facebook and then followed with an email.
This extraordinary documentary feature film ‘Sisters’ is a real-life story; it investigates the lives of the Zohra members, the first all-female orchestra in Afghanistan’s and their two young leaders: Negin Khpalwak and Zarifa Adiba.
Dan Blackwell is a travelling musician and film maker from the UK. After working in the industry as a Session Guitarist, Producer and Composer, Dan launched a project called '4bar Collective'. The aim was to collaborate with large numbers of musicians, recording 4 bars of music from each to create original tracks and a network of cross promotion for all the artists involved. ‘Sister’ & Soundtrack Composed by Dan Blackwell & Tom Biggs
“When I discovered Zohra online, I was inspired to completely rework the structure of the project into a documentary series and working with Tony Klinger helps me realise this ambition.” — Dan Blackwell, director of ‘Sisters’
Negin Khpalwak, the Conductor of Zohra. At 20 years old she is the oldest member and the leader of the Zohra Ensemble. She sticks with and leads Zohra as the country’s first female conductor despite multiple death threats and family disputes. Zarifa is nowhere to be seen until Dan tracks her down. Discovering her precarious situation, Dan stays with her as she prepares to flee Afghanistan leaving close friends and family behind.
Zarifa Adiba — along with Negin, Zarifa was the outspoken second leader of Zohra until she fled the country during the production of this film.
'I would rather die standing on my feet than living on one knee' — Zarifa Adiba
‘Sisters’ had its UK premiere at the Chichester International Film Festival on Monday 16th August 2021, introduced by Executive Producer Tony Klinger.
‘SISTERS’ producer Tony Klinger met with MP’s and representatives of the House of Lords on Tuesday 19th October at a special screening at the Houses of Parliament of the documentary feature film ‘SISTERS’. A true story by musician and director Dan Blackwell as he investigates the lives of the members of ‘Zohra’ the first and last all-female orchestra in Afghanistan.
‘I was delighted to host this amazing film and thank Tony Klinger for bringing it to Westminster. Everyone should see this film and see the joy of music in the young Afghan women’s faces. The music institute has now been closed down and I urge the new leadership to reopen it immediately so that Afghan children can learn to celebrate the musical culture of Afghanistan.’ — Flick Drummond MP
