In 1979, after the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan, millions of Afghans were forced to leave their homeland to save their lives, and in the meantime, a huge wave of them immigrated to Iran. Now, after 4 decades of living in Iran, their second and third generations have been born. They have not seen their motherland and have not had the experience of living there; On the other hand, they are not accepted as citizens in Iran. This suspension has placed them in a diasporic situation.

During these years, the Iranian government has made many restrictions on their access to facilities and services. Prohibition and legal restrictions in choosing residence, travel, job, marriage ban with Iranians, not having the right to have ownership documents and deprivation of a large part of food, health and education subsidies have formed a set of laws that emphasize on their temporary nature and not belonging to the geography of Iran.

On the other hand, Afghans are victims of the discriminatory beliefs and behaviors of some parts of the society as an "inferior other". Racism and deprivation of basic citizenship rights have caused the social exclusion of this group in the society. For this reason, they do not fully consider themselves as belonging to Afghanistan or Iran. In this documentary, we talk about this excluded group and experience "being Afghani" in Iran from their perspective. Today's diaspora generation has a new perspective and intends to migrate to another land in search of homeland.

Director Biography: Soraya Akhlaqi

Independent filmmaker and artist

Afghan descent, born (1993) and raised in Iran

Film graduate

So far, I have made some short films, documentaries and created several performance art.

The topics of my works almost has been war, women, human rights and immigration.

I have performed in various international festivals, and I had the honor of being on the jury at the 28th

Vesoul International Film Festival.

I also received the Youth Jury Award from the 29th Vesoul International Film Festival for the documentary

film "Root in the Wind".

Diaspora life experience has played an important role in the formation of my artistic ideas and I have

always tried to make my works a reflection of the voice of those who have been ignored.

Filmography:

- 2017- Borderline

- 2019- Morteza Abdi

- 2022- Roots in the Wind