Film Summary
The film is set within a traditional Afghan and Muslim society that believes in the importance of chastity, conservativeness, and patience between lovers. It, thus, follows the life of two lovers, Wajma and Mustafa, who find themselves intertwined in the very complex and controversial web of love, desire, religion, and traditions. Wajma, the main protagonist, is the daughter of a very strict, proud, and unyielding man, finds herself pregnant through Mustafa who refuses to accept the responsibility of his actions.
On the other hand, Mustafa is caught in between love and the acceptance of a woman who was not chaste when they consummated their love. He does not want to accept a woman whom he “sees” as “loose,” and at the same time, he afraid of the consequences of engaging in premarital sexual activities. The film thus follows Wajma as she tries to come to term with the implications of her rendezvous and illicit affair, the consequences of traditions, the rule of religion, and the anger and love of her very proud father. The director, through Wajma and her father, tries to interrogate traditions, reality, religion and law as options to resolving this societal/moral dilemma.
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Issues Addressed
The film addresses certain aspects of traditions that if compared against contemporary American society, may seem out of context. The first aspect that the film points out is the “place of women within the society” as highlighted by the juxta-positional situation as highlighted by Wajma and Mustafa. Despite finding themselves in a similar situation, Mustafa is excused, but Wajma is not. In the context of American society, women have more space and freedom to question existing traditions and actually take actions against demeaning and discriminating traditions.
The film also addresses sexuality within Afghan society and how it is defined and understood by the wider community. We see how Wajma is judged by both her lover, her father and the society as a “loose” woman, without Mustafa being blamed for being part of the illicit affair. In this culture, sexuality is biased against the female gender while the male gender is “excused” from its conquests. Within American society, sexuality is undefined, in the sense that there are no “traditional” boundaries that uphold the male and demonize the females; both are guilty as charged.
The film also exposes the demeaning and derogatory traditional and religious context within which women in this culture are supposed to operate in. Wajma is seen as an asset expected to block out her desires so that she can please her family and uphold her family’s name. There is no space for a woman to make her own decisions; rather, she is governed and guided by traditions, cultural values, and religion that fail to consider her needs and desire. In contrast, the American culture is more cosmopolitan in the sense that it gives space and opportunity to women, without placing unrealistic constraints that only demean the girl child. In American culture, both genders are accorded the same space to express themselves without any favor or reservation.
Reaction to the Film
The film touches on contemporary gender issues that are mostly hidden within a religious and traditional context by most societies. The female gender, unlike the male one, usually finds itself disadvantaged due to the burden of expectation, religion, society and traditions placed on them without genuinely trying to understand them as human beings. In the film Wajma, An Afghan Love Story , the director challenges the boundaries of a strict and religious society, while at the same time offering the audience the opportunity to interrogate their understanding of gender and its expectations and roles within their societies.
