海角大神

When Sara Barackzay first started to teach animation to girls in Afghanistan, she was openly mocked. 鈥淧eople say that girls shouldn鈥檛 do this kind of work,鈥� , a Turkish news service. Then no one showed up. Then the power went out. Then parents stopped sending their daughters. Then there were threats.听

Yet today she has more than 400 students. Ms. Barackzay has become known as Afghanistan鈥檚 first female animator, with dreams of someday moving on to Disney or Pixar. (.) But for now, she has stories to tell about Afghanistan 鈥� and not the stories the world often hears. 鈥淢y country is full of kind people, amazing food, and an old culture, and that鈥檚 what I want to show to the world,鈥� .听

And there is her own story, which she hopes can be inspiration for others 鈥� doodling as a child, learning Turkish from watching 鈥淭he Smurfs,鈥� going to Istanbul for art school, then returning to Afghanistan to teach girls.听

鈥淎fghan women try so hard 鈥� maybe even harder than others 鈥� to reach their goals. It鈥檚 one of the messages I want to communicate through my art,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 always had big dreams, but fighting for them was never easy. Afghan women continue to face many limitations, and gaining my own freedom is possibly the biggest challenge I鈥檝e faced 鈥� and it鈥檚 a struggle that continues.鈥澛犅�