At Five In The Afternoon review

The Taliban have fled and Kabul lies in ruins. A determined young woman, Noqreh (Agheleh Rezaie), dreams of becoming president of her country, but her daily routine revolves around finding food, water and shelter for her immediate family. But Noqreh's problems don't stop there: her traditionalist father (Abdolgani Yousefrazi) is yet to find out that she attends lessons at an all-female secular school, which, considering he regards the unveiled faces of women as "blasphemous", is probably a good thing...

Less dramatic than writer/director Samira Makhmalbaf's previous film Blackboards, this allegorical account of post-Taliban existence still paints a vivid portrait of a shattered country tentatively emerging from its collective nightmare. Makhmalbaf chooses her locations well, communicating the surreal strangeness of life in the Afghani capital. That said, her non-professional cast struggle with cumbersome dialogue that would challenge even the most seasoned pro.