Angels Are Made of Light

Conceived as a cinematic ode to Afghan civilians, filmed over three years, ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT traces the lives of young students and their teachers at a school in the old city of Kabul. Interweaving the modern history of Afghanistan with a present-day portrait of a working-class neighborhood, the film offers an intimate and nuanced vision. Moving seamlessly through the points of view of multiple characters—three brothers, their friends, parents, male and female teachers, an elderly cleaning woman at the school—the film allows their thoughts and ideas to play out on the grand stage of Kabul. Their memories of the Afghan kingdom, the communist revolution and the civil war are brought to life through rare 35mm archival material unearthed in Afghanistan.