“Beyond Belief” tells the story of Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, two ordinary soccer moms living in the affluent suburbs of Boston until tragedy strikes when both women lose their husbands in the 9/11 attack. Rather than turning inwards, grief compels these women to focus on the country where the terrorists who took their husbands’ lives were trained: Afghanistan. Over the course of two years, as they cope with loss and struggle to raise their families as single mothers, these extraordinary women dedicate themselves to empowering Afghan widows whose lives have been ravaged by decades of war, poverty and oppression - factors they consider to be the root causes of terrorism. As Susan and Patti make the courageous journey from their comfortable neighborhoods to the most desperate Afghan villages, they discover a powerful bond with each other, an unlikely kinship with widows halfway around the world, and a profound way to move beyond tragedy. From the ruins of the World Trade Center to those of Kabul and back, theirs is a journey of personal strength and international reconciliation, and a testament to the vision that peace can be forged - one woman at a time.
As New York Magazine notes - The shared griefs are the same; the post traumatic realities couldn’t be more different.
Saturday, 1:00 pm at The Gillioz. Your attendance will provide support for film making here in Springfield and around the world, as represented by this documentary. Winner of the audience award at the Newburyport Doc film festival, Best of Fest at Woods Hole Film Festival, it opens in Boston on Saturday evening having recently signed a national distribution deal. See it here first!
For a very personal look at the fight that continues for women in Afghanistan, check out The New York Times and their story about Shamila Kohestani, the captain of Aghanistans women’s national soccer team who is attending prep school in New Jersey.
Some of her classmates at Blair Academy here know that Kohestani, 19, is the captain of the Afghanistan national women’s soccer team. Some are aware that she is Muslim. Most know her only as the striking young woman who is eager to stock her iPod with any kind of music they recommend.
Until recently, they had no idea of what Kohestani has already endured in her short life. The music that some of them take for granted is a luxury to her; the classwork they grumble about is a privilege.
“She asks about everything and wants to absorb it all,” said Frances Salaveria, one of her basketball teammates. “She makes me think about all the things we take for granted.”
The complete schedule for the weekend is available on our blog.
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