At Five in the Afternoon

Since the Taliban in Afghanistan fell, filmmakers - both local and international - freed from the tyrannical constraints imposed on them, have found their voice. Both a thoughtful drama and a critique of the conditions most Afghans have had to endure since the liberation of their country, At Five in the Afternoon is an artfully constructed drama which makes its points with the minimum amount of fuss. In a charming performance, Agheleh Rezaie plays Nogreh, a young woman who is revelling in her new found freedom in the post Talibanic Afghanistan. Allowed to attend school, despite the misgivings of her father, she throws herself into her studies with gusto. Her ambitions may be lofty - she wants to become the country's next president - but realism is always waiting to take her back down to earth. Her brother has disappeared and his wife is left to care for their sick child, while others aren't willing to accept that the old regime won't be returning.

A mere 23 years of age when she made the film, Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf is a frighteningly talented young filmmaker, displaying an unnerving ability for striking imagery, wound around a powerful, deeply emotive story. Able to make her point without allowing it distil the natural jaunty rhythms of the story, Makhmalbaf deals intelligently and subtly with the sharp topics of religion, politics and tradition, while liberally sprinkling the proceedings with a fair degree of dark humour. Well worth it.