Three Songs for Benazir (2021)
★★★ — Three Songs for Benazir (2021)
Documentary filmmaking about Afghanistan has, in recent years, tended to arrive wrapped in the language of crisis: foreign correspondents, military embeds, political post-mortems. Three Songs for Benazir (2021) positions itself somewhere quite different. At just 24 minutes, the film is a short documentary from Mirzaei Films, following Shaista, a young newlywed living in a camp for displaced persons on the outskirts of Kabul. He carries two ambitions that sit uneasily alongside each other: to be the first man from his tribe to enlist in the Afghan National Army, and to build a life with his wife, Benazir. The title's echo of Urdu lyric tradition is no accident. The film frames this story not as a news report, but as something closer to song.
The film is the work of co-directors Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei, working under their own production banner, Mirzaei Films. The pair have an established approach to documenting Afghan lives from the inside, with a sensitivity to texture and intimacy that a more journalistic camera might flatten. Producing work of this kind in Kabul required a level of trust between filmmakers and subjects that is hard to overstate, and the result carries that earned closeness in almost every frame. For documentary viewers who appreciate that kind of embedded, unhurried approach, the film sits in good company alongside other short-form works that find the personal within the political, such as Island Soldier, another documentary that centres on one individual caught between duty and family, or Next Goal Wins, which similarly uses a small, specific story to gesture at something much larger about identity and belonging. The film received significant international attention on the festival circuit and went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject, which is a notable marker of how it landed with industry audiences even if mainstream viewers may have encountered it less easily.
With no prominent cast names to anchor it in the conventional sense, the film rests entirely on Shaista and Benazir themselves, and on the Mirzaeis' ability to draw out something genuine from people living through genuinely difficult circumstances. The approach blends spoken word poetry (Shaista's own verses form part of the film's texture) with observational documentary footage, which gives the whole thing a hybrid quality that will feel fresh to some and elusive to others. Fans of formally adventurous non-fiction filmmaking, particularly work that sits at the border between documentary and art cinema, much as Candomblé in Togo occupies a similarly unusual space between ethnographic record and aesthetic object, may find it especially rewarding. Whether that ambition fully pays off is, of course, the question.
A beautifully shot, poetically told story that feels more like a visual poem than a traditional narrative film. Set in modern-day Afghanistan, this short film follows a young couple (a dreamer-poet and his wife) as they navigate life, love, and survival in a war-torn country. Visually, it’s stunning: the cinematography captures both the harshness and beauty of the landscape, and the use of music and silence really pulls you into their world. The concept is intriguing (blending spoken word poetry with documentary-style realism) and there are moments here that are genuinely moving. You can tell the filmmakers wanted to highlight not just the conflict, but the humanity, dreams, and quiet resilience that still exist in spite of it all. That said, it doesn't quite land with full emotional impact. The abstract storytelling and slow pacing might leave some viewers wanting more clarity or connection. At times, it feels like we’re only scratching the surface of these characters’ lives, rather than truly stepping into them. Still, it’s worth watching, especially if you're looking for something different, something that tries to capture a culture through art rather than headlines. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a bold, artistic effort that deserves credit for trying something new.
I think that tension between the film's evident artistic ambition and its emotional reach is what stays with me most. There is something genuinely rare about a 24-minute film that chooses poetry over exposition when dealing with a subject the rest of the world tends to process through breaking news, and the Mirzaeis deserve real credit for that instinct. But credit for the attempt and full satisfaction as a viewer are not quite the same thing, and I find myself wishing the film had trusted us to sit a little longer with these two people before retreating into the abstract. It is the kind of film you respect before you love it. Sometimes, though, that is enough.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2021 | Watched: 2025-05-20
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Three Songs for Benazir (2021) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon US
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