Love Marriage in Kabul (G). Director: Amin Palangi. 84 minutes
There are lots of good stories to be found in Iranian-Australian filmmaker Amin Palangi's documentary feature Love Marriage in Kabul.
There's the story of Mahboba, a Sydney-based Afghani refugee who, following the death her young son 22 years ago, dedicated herself to supporting orphans and widows in Afghanistan through her charity Mahboba's Hope.
There's the story of Abdul, one of the first orphans to come under Mahboba's wing, who now needs her help if he is to marry the love of his life; Fatemeh lives with her father and brothers in a house across the road from the orphanage in Kabul, where she attended school and where she first met Abdul.
There's also the story of Fatemah's father Nik, a widower and onetime prisoner of the Taliban, who is desperate to ensure his family is properly cared for if he allows her to marry. Fatemeh has maintained the household since her mother's death, and as such Nik is demanding a prohibitive dowry of $10,000.
And to a lesser extent, there is the story of Virginia Haussegger, celebrated Canberra news presenter and feminist writer who has accompanied Mahboba on her most recent trip to Kabul, to witness Mahboba's work firsthand.
Palangi adopts an unobtrusive approach to his subjects, offering little commentary and rarely having them speak directly to camera. This engaging, observational approach highlights the personalities and in-the-moment emotional responses of his subjects, but also limits the viewer's understanding of the context of the events portrayed on screen, and of the backstories that might lead a particular character to behave in a certain way.
It works well where the film's heroes are concerned. One of the tasks Mahboba has to complete during this trip is to inform the manager of one of the orphanages under her care that she can no longer afford to fund it.
Shortly after she arrives at the orphanage though, where she receives a hero's welcome from children and manager alike, a lingering close-up of her face is enough to confirm she has changed her mind about closing it down. She'll work something out, she tells her companions after they depart.
Clearly she is a woman possessed of great courage, a big heart and even bigger faith.
Similarly, the central love story between Abdul and the rarely glimpsed Fatemeh is deeply touching. The wrangling between Mahboba and Nik, and all this implies about the ways in which young