'Bread and Roses' Highlights the Plight of the Afghan Women the US Military Withdrawal Left Behind

It probably won’t surprise anyone who served in Afghanistan that the rights of women and girls in the country have been essentially returned to their prewar status. Before the U.S. military’s chaotic August 2021 withdrawal from the country, Afghan women made up 22% of the workforce, but Taliban restrictions now mean it’s impossible for them to make a living – and defiance of the policies means torture, disappearance or death.

What might come as a surprise is that the loss of the basic rights they enjoyed while the United States provided their security hasn’t stopped some Afghan women from exercising them anyway, often in the open. Those courageous women are the subject of a new documentary produced by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and actress Jennifer Lawrence, “Bread and Roses.”

Lawrence’s production company, Excellent Cadaver, hired Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani to direct “Bread and Roses.” Her previous work, 2018’s “A Thousand Girls Like Me,” documented the failures of the Afghan judicial system in prosecuting sexual offenses against Afghan women and girls.

In the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, unemployment and poverty rates, along with food prices, skyrocketed. Food insecurity now affects 95% of Afghan households. Restrictions on women’s rights prevent them from entering the workforce or contributing to economic output, exacerbating the myriad problems affecting Afghan homes.

Women who spent the decades before the American withdrawal earning a secondary education, going to college or starting their own businesses have since been left without the means to use any of it to support their families. Afghan girls, who legally cannot be educated past a sixth grade level, are being sold into marriages and their children being put to work to support their families.

“Bread and Roses” follows the story of three women whose stories capture the spirit of many Afghan women, who came of age at a time when women were allowed more freedoms. The first is Sharifa, who once worked for the Afghan government but has since been forced indoors due to the Taliban’s mahram, or male guardian laws. Zahra is a practicing dentist who organizes pro-women activists from her dentistry office; predictably, she is arrested and tortured. The film also follows Taranom, an Afghan woman who has become a refugee in neighboring Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan for her own resistance activities, finding safe houses for exiles like herself along the way.

Threats, arrests and torture aren’t enough to dissuade these three (or other Afghan women) from resisting the restrictions placed on them by the Taliban regime. They lead marches through the streets, chanting for bread, education and work as they protest the closing of a local school. Young girls of elementary school age can be seen joining the chants as Taliban security forces offer only more threats of violence and attempts to disburse them using water cannons.

“Closing girls’ schools in Afghanistan is not just a matter of feminist concern; rather, it is a matter of international security. The Taliban recognizes that the children of educated mothers are difficult to indoctrinate, and are less susceptible to becoming their future soldiers,” Mani told Deadline earlier this year. “Ensuring that girls’ schools remain open in Afghanistan is crucial for the preservation and safety of our entire world.”

“Bread and Roses” premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and currently enjoys a perfect score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles before it begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, 2024.

Keep Up With the Best in Military Entertainment

Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox.