Yasmeen, a young Pakistani schoolgirl, is an eager student, curious, joyful and determined. When she loses her homework assignment in the winding hills on her way home, she sets out to find her professor and discover which of the elements in the periodic table she is to research. She discovers that when atoms collide, they make both beautiful and destructive combinations. So do the villagers she encounters in her search.
Abbasi shot the film with one camera and a cast of locals who invite the audience into Yasmeen’s world and the magnificent landscape she inhabits. Set in the disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, a remote, mountainous land claimed by Pakistan, India, and China, we are introduced to a subsistence farming community. Unlike other rural places where conservative forces repress women and girls, in Yasmeen’s village women work alongside men, and all have a commitment to equality and education. They are not always supported by the authorities, however.
Reminiscent of Abbas Kiarostami’s Where Is the Friend’s House in both plot and perspective, Yasmeen’s determined search along rural roads and through village streets is full of both literal and figurative twists, and is revelatory for both Yasmeen and the audience.
“The film was initially conceived as an adaptation of “The Last Thousand” by co-screenwriter Jeffrey E. Stern, about a co-educational school near Kabul, but shifted direction when the Taliban reestablished control in Afghanistan after U.S. forces left. What remains of that idea doesn’t wear its themes on its sleeve but instead advocates for girls’ rights and access to education in depicting the joy it brings Yasmeen and her classmates — and the daunting reality outside it.” (IndieWire)
Director Amman Abbasi will join us for a post-screening discussion.
