Liz Mermin spoke to us from New York about her initial thoughts about American beauticians in Kabul and the secret salons that existed under the Taleban.
BBC Four: Was it the fact that it was New Yorkers going over to Kabul that attracted you, or the beauty school project itself?
LM: I read a story about the project in the New York Times. The reason it jumped out at me was that at that point, 2002, the news was all so dire from that part of the world. This was such a bizarre human interest story and it seemed like such naive idealism. The idea of a group of well-intentioned Americans popping into Kabul and teaching woman about hair styles seemed irresistible. But when I started talking to them I saw the other side of it, the business development angle, and it seemed like less of a joke.
BBC Four: A lot of the news stories about it seemed to focus on it being a bit too trivial to take seriously. What was the reaction in Kabul?
LM: There were certainly people who thought it was frivolous and an inappropriate thing to be doing at that time. But they had hundreds begging to come to the school. The excitement was amazing. At every salon we went to, the women were thrilled about this idea. The word spread really fast. Sixty people showed up for the orientation meeting - and it's not easy to get around in Kabul. Part of it is that a lot of Afghan women are very competitive and driven and the idea that there was going to be an American school meant they could get a cachet and an education. I think that being chosen over their neighbours was irresistible.
BBC Four: Did you get a sense that it was an empowering experience for the Afghan women?
LM: Who knows what the long-term effects are, but in the three months I was there you could definitely see a transformation in the students. Part of it was that they had this beautiful place to go to every day where they could get away from their kids or in-laws and get a lot of individual attention. Because they had a place at the American school their own salons got more business and they had more respect from their families. It's a pretty lucrative career.
BBC Four: What did you make of the culture clash between the New Yorkers and Afghan women? Some of it, like meditating before the classes, is pretty comical.
LM: The meditation wasn't part of the teachers' curriculum! We [the film crew] were out and about in the city a lot more than the teachers. They sort of went in and their big thing was; "We're bringing in an American curriculum, American standards, and American strategies to Afghanistan". They did that because they didn't want to be condescending, but I think they missed the other side which is that cultural adjustment might also be a little bit necessary. For the students it was amusing and educational in a different way. I think they thought, "Wow! This is how things work in America? This is really interesting." But I don't think they were about to start doing it on their own. There was one instructor, Terri, who started exercising and doing callisthenics before class. At first only one or two of the students were doing it but by the end they all were. I don't know if that's because they were all good students and did what they were told or because they really got into it. I suspect it was a little of both.
BBC Four: Finally, can you just talk a little about the underground beauty salons that operated under the Taleban?
LM: They were a way to maintain some semblance of normal life. When the Taleban came in they closed down all the girls' schools, kicked the women out of university and all the women who were working outside of their homes were fired. They also fired a lot of men who didn't fit their agenda. So a lot of families suddenly had no income. Many women who were doing completely different things like teaching, working for the government or secretarial work found themselves looking around for ways to support their families. Hairdressing was one of the only things you could do inside your house, so people who had never done it before started hairdressing.
They managed to support themselves with wedding and engagement party clientele, which are huge over there. Even though the women would only lift up their burkas when they were alone in a room with other women it was still incredibly important to them that they looked stunning.
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