The Beauty Academy of Kabul

Name: The Beauty Academy of Kabul
Genre: Documentary
Released: March 24, 2006
Duration: 74 min
Rating: 68

2006

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Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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The Beauty Academy Of Kabul

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Movie Details & Credits

Shadow Distribution | Release Date: March 24, 2006 | Not Rated

Summary: A group of American hairdressers head to Afghanistan to open the country's first post-Taliban beauty school.

Director: Liz Mermin

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 74 min

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Critic Reviews

100

M. E. Russell

The teachers have moxie. The students have courage. Mermin's warm, funny, beautiful and deeply humane documentary certainly honors the latter. Read full review

Tasha Robinson

Mermin presents all this without editorial comment, and her film would be worth watching if only for its look at a profound culture-clash. But it goes one better, and delves into one of those clashing cultures, capturing it in a moment of change that goes far beyond one beauty academy's superficial concerns. Read full review

Andrew O'Hehir

A spiny, puzzling and highly entertaining film, and whatever you go into it thinking, you're likely to come out thinking something else. Read full review

Steven Rea

Without editorializing, Mermin raises fascinating questions about the cultural impact of globalization, the allure of the West, and the troubled history of an ancient land. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

The questionably good news put forth in this documentary is that vanity apparently survives everything. Read full review

Ronnie Scheib

In an act of "selfless service," a group of American women, backed by industry giants like Clairol and Vogue, open a beauty school in war-ravaged Afghanistan. The anomalies are manifold: Gun-toting soldiers patrolling the streets are visible through the windows as rookie beauticians busily snip, perm and tweeze. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

At its best, Mermin -- who used an all-female crew -- conveys the sense of an entirely feminine world being created under the beauty school roof, and it's refreshing. Read full review

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JenW.

Jan 31, 2007

This movie was disturbing on many levels, but NOT for the reasons one might expect. The shallowness and total lack of cultural understanding or sensitivity emeplified by the stereotypical rich white women "saving" Afghanistan one haircut at a time left me deeply saddened upon realizing that This movie was disturbing on many levels, but NOT for the reasons one might expect. The shallowness and total lack of cultural understanding or sensitivity emeplified by the stereotypical rich white women "saving" Afghanistan one haircut at a time left me deeply saddened upon realizing that this movie was not a parody.… Expand

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