Taking No Good Men as a starting point, this panel brings together filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat and producer Maria Perales Marhuenda to reflect on what it means to create cinema as a woman in contexts shaped by structural inequality.
Set in Afghanistan in 2021, just before the return of the Taliban, No Good Men navigates love, work and survival through the perspective of a female protagonist moving within a deeply patriarchal society. The film opens a space to discuss how personal narratives intersect with political realities, and how cinema can becomeboth a tool of expression and a form of resistance.
The conversation will explore the challenges of filmmaking under conditions of restriction and displacement, the representation of women on screen, and the ways in which feminist perspectives can reshape cinematic language. From Afghanistan to Europe, the panel aims to open a broader reflection on how women filmmakersnegotiate authorship, risk and visibility in today’s global film landscape.
