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GUEST: Meena Nanji, independent film maker based in Los Angeles

Tomorrow, November 14th is the fifth anniversary of the defeat of the Taliban by the United States and Northern Alliance. Yet, Afghanistan’s biggest challenge remains what’s now called the “Taliban insurgency,” according to a senior United Nations official yesterday. This insurgency is strongest in the south, where US and NATO forces have intensified their war over the summer. Western government officials railed against the Taliban’s treatment of women five years ago, as a justification for the post-9-11 war on Afghanistan. But, despite some minor improvements in education and employment in cities like Kabul, in many aspects, women’s lives are still the same or worse.

A View from a Grain of Sand is a new documentary by local film maker Meena Nanji. Shot over a three-year period in the refugee camps of northwestern Pakistan and the war-torn city of Kabul, Nanji followed three women, a teacher named Shapire, a doctor named Roeena, and a social activist, Wajeeha. A View From a Grain of Sand premieres at the Red Cat Theater this evening.

A View From a Grain of Sand is premiering on Monday November 13, at 8 pm at the Red Cat Theater in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, 631 W. 2nd St in Los Angeles.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call the REDCAT box office at 213-237-2800, or visit redcat.org. For more information about the film visit viewgrainofsand.com