The Afghan Women of Brattleboro
After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in the fall of 2021, the U.S. evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans whose lives were in danger. About 100 of them ended up as refugees in Brattleboro, Vermont, in early 2022. Among them was a group of extraordinary women who agreed to share their stories.
In many ways, the Afghan women who resettled in Brattleboro are completely different from each other. But they share a religion and a culture, and they all fled a brutal fundamentalist regime in Afghanistan. They all left behind people and places they love, and the lives they expected to live.
They had to forge a new path for themselves in Brattleboro, which is literally on the other side of the world from their home. Their arrival brought change — not just for the women themselves but for the local residents who helped them settle in, and also for Brattleboro as a whole.
About the Producers
The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was created by Jennifer Sutton and Elissa Pine of Two Daughters Productions. Jennifer is a journalist, writer, and editor; Elissa directs a women’s art retreat center. Both are longtime Brattleboro residents who were among the many volunteers helping new Afghan arrivals get settled in their new town in 2022. They spent more than two years interviewing Afghan women about their lives.
Negina served as an interpreter, script editor, and all-around advisor for The Afghan Women of Brattleboro. She resettled in Vermont after leaving Kabul, Afghanistan. She works as a case manager for the Ethiopian Community Development Council and as a member of the Artlords, an artist collective that originated in Afghanistan. She has collaborated on murals throughout the state.
The Afghan Women of Brattleboro was funded by Vermont Public’s Made Here Fund, Vermont Humanities, The Windham Foundation, and The Arts Council of Windham County.
Thanks to Ziagul Azimi, who helped launch the project and did the first round of interview interpretation. Thanks also to voiceover actors Drukshan Farhad, Monishka Bidar, and Behishta Nikoofar, and photographer Elizabeth Ungerleider.
Mastering by Dave Snyder
Music:
“Documentary” by Dmitrii Kolesnikov, Pixabay
“Midnight Melody” by Siddhi, Free Music Archive, CC BY-NC 3.0
“Alone in Park” by Serge Quadrado, Free Music Archive, CC BY-NC 3.0
“Deep Cinematic Ballad” by Grand Project, Pixabay
“Positive Ambient Mood” by Valentin Iakovlev, Pixabay
“John Stockton Slow Drag” and “The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan” by Chris Zabriskie, Bandcamp
Cover photo: Kusmayadi Sasmitha on Unsplash
