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The Beauty Academy of Kabul

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The Beauty Academy of Kabul

Released May 4, 2004

1h 14m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

53 Reviews

57%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

With backing from American cosmetics industries, a group of stylists travels to post-Taliban Afghanistan to teach women about their hair and using makeup.

Critics Consensus

There's nothing frivolous about beauty school when hearing about the individual lives of these women in Afghanistan, and the contrast between them and the idealistic beauticians from America.

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Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Most of the students had suffered or witnessed horrific abuses and crimes under the Taliban, yet the film shows two fatuous U.S. instructors who clearly missed the sensitivity training.

Dec 15, 2006

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Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

a spiny, puzzling and highly entertaining film, and whatever you go into it thinking, you're likely to come out thinking something else.

Dec 15, 2006

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Michael Booth

Denver Post

Any film that raises this many interesting questions is worth seeing, though Beauty Academy never goes quite deep enough to become essential.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 14, 2006

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Jonathan Kiefer

Sacramento News & Review

Rated: 3/5

Aug 7, 2008

Full Review

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Captures the essence of Americans' sense of empowerment and innate goodness -- and our cultural myopia.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 14, 2007

Full Review

Maria Garcia

Film Journal International

It is that lack of small-minded judgment which distinguishes The Beauty Academy of Kabul and which makes it thoughtful, yet so much fun to watch.

Mar 1, 2007

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Audience Member

Pretty straight-forward watch. I thought the most poignant part were the two hairdressers who fled Afghanistan in the 1980s and were back to teach at the school. The Americans are portrayed as obnoxious and ignorant, but I don't know how much of that is a result of editing. I read "Kabul Beauty School" by Debbie Rodriguez earlier this year and I wasn't shocked to see that she was the most obnoxious American. There's been some controversy over the accuracy of her book and I thought the movie was a good addition to the stuff in the book.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

What is best about this documentary is that it is not only about a group of women helping another group of women half way around the world. It is about the daily life of this Afghan women, how there are trying to have a shred of normality in a country that it is in chaos.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

We are so blessed to live in the USA.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

Amazing, brave Afghan women. Crazy, entitled American women.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

This is a great documentary! I highly recommend it. One part of the film that upset me was how some of the American instructors spoke to the women with a sense of Western ignorance. There's a reason these women can't "rebel" as much as you would want them to; they could be killed.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Give this little doc a shot. There are some grimace-worthy cultural difference moments between the Americans and the Pakistani women that make for good viewing. In the end it's all about sisterhood and true beauty.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Liz Mermin

Director

Liz Mermin

Producer

Nigel Noble

Producer

Liz Mermin

Film Editing

Sheri Levine

Executive Producer

Linda Saetre

Executive Producer

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Synopsis

With backing from American cosmetics industries, a group of stylists travels to post-Taliban Afghanistan to teach women about their hair and using makeup.

Director: Liz Mermin
Producer: Liz Mermin, Nigel Noble
Distributor: Wellspring Media
Production Co: Noble Enterprise
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 4, 2004, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Mar 24, 2006
Release Date (DVD): Dec 19, 2006
Box Office (Gross USA): $225.3K
Runtime: 1h 14m