Three Songs for Benazir (original title is in Afghan), 2021, 22 minutes.
Afghan short film directed by Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei, which is nominated for the 2022 Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film.
It follows the story of Shaista, a young Afghan man, recently married to Benazir, for whom he sings some songs that describe the daily life of a woman. They live in a precarious Afghan refugee camp, in precarious conditions. Shaista dreams of serving his country by enlisting in the Afghan army, but finds it difficult to be semi-literate and have to ask someone in the family to fill out the enlistment forms, taking responsibility for him and his actions in the army. No one in the family agrees with the enlistment, as they fear retaliation against everyone in the tribe by the Taliban. He is induced by his father to go to work in the opium harvest, where he becomes an addicted, as he eats the poppy seeds throughout the harvest. The film jumps four years. Shaista is in an addiction recovery center, where he is visited by Benazir and his two children. There, he sings one more song for Benazir.
It is a sad documentary, where the dreams of a better life for him and his family are thwarted by a decision of his family members. Despite all the struggle, of personal defeats, love prevails.
The documentary could further explore the story of Benazir, which only serves to give the film its name.