Mina Walking

Dying to learn, energetic and rebellious. It is hard to believe just how much 12-year-old Mina from Kabul manages to achieve in a country where men call all the shots and life is full of challenges. Her father is a useless junkie, her grandfather senile and helpless and her mother was killed by the Taliban. Now everything depends on her. She alone takes care of the old man. She fetches water and cooks their meals. She sews, washes clothes and sells knick-knacks on the street for a pittance. She even manages to attend school. She is always in a hurry and rarely has any time even to rest on the roof of their humble dwelling in the twilight. Nobody ever praises Mina; all she gets is criticism from her father. She quarrels with his best friend because he is also his dealer; her efforts are of course to no avail. It is a wonder that Mina does not give up. Only when her grandfather dies does it all become too much for her. Shot on Kabul's turbulent streets in a quasi-documentary style, the film portrays the severity of life in this war-torn country. (Berlinale)