Jennifer Lawrence and Malala say Bread and Roses is "form of resistance for Afghan women"

The film boasts some big-name producers in Jennifer Lawrence and former Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, and ahead of the release, they – along with Mani – spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com about why the project was so important.

"When I saw what was happening in Kabul in 2021, I desperately wanted to get cameras inside or help in some way," Lawrence explained.

"So we wanted to make a film, and we were looking for Afghan filmmakers, and we were already familiar with Sahra's work from her documentary A Thousand Girls Like Me."

She explained that when she and her regular producing partner Justine Ciarrocchi reached out to Mani, they discovered she had already begun gathering footage of women on the ground in Afghanistan, and so they wanted to facilitate any sort of means to help her, "so that she could create her own vision".

She added: "Creatively, we wanted her to have absolute freedom. And when we got the assembly and saw the footage after all of this time of, you know, in and out of communication, I was just absolutely blown away by what she created."

Meanwhile, Yousafzai said that she had hoped her own experiences of resisting the Taliban was "a story of the past", explaining that she hoped "that women and girls [would] never have to witness living under an oppressive regime like that of the Taliban".

She continued: "But it is a sad reality right now that Afghan women and girls have been living under for the past three and a half years, where they have been banned from work, education and any form of political participation and presence, and we have clearly seen we have enough proof now that the Taliban have not changed.

"They are the same oppressive people who do not believe in any form of women's rights. They do not even consider women to be equal humans."

She said that above all she just wanted "small accountability" for the Taliban's actions, and that this was why she has been involved in the campaign that Afghan women are leading to codify gender apartheid and to make sure that it is part of the crime against humanity treaty.

"This documentary is a form of resistance for Afghan women and girls, because it gives them that visibility and presence which the Taliban don't want," she added.

For her part, Mani pointed out that although there are three women spotlighted in this film, their struggle is of course just representative of that facing millions of women and girls.

"I have to say that this story of these three women is not only about these women, and also it's not unique," she said.

"It's a story of more than 20 million Afghan women under Taliban dictatorship right now, but also it's a story of all artists who are living in Afghanistan, like filmmaking, being a musician, they are all considered as a criminal to the Taliban law.

"And we have to think seriously about the future of our world when in the part of this world, the artists and women, they are not allowed to express themselves and get education or go to work.

"So I think it's an alarm for all of us to think seriously about what the Taliban is doing in Afghanistan, and what's going to be the future of our world with having the Taliban as a leader in the part of our world."

Bread and Roses is showing in select UK cinemas and is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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