For filmmaker Elizabeth Mirzaei, a Conestoga High School graduate, Afghanistan is an integral part of life and the main subject of her work, writes Michele Meek for Ms. magazine. 

Mirzaei first visited Afghanistan in 2007 to teach photography with the Assyrian International News Agency Photojournalism Institute. She met her husband and collaborator Gulistan Mirzaei there, and she lived in the country for close to a decade while she worked as a photojournalist and producer of independent documentaries. 

She made her first feature documentary, Laila at the Bridge, in 2018. The movie chronicles the journey of a woman who runs a drug treatment center and tries to help addicts who congregate under a notorious bridge in Afghanistan. 

“We met Laila, and we were intrigued by her and her journey,” said Mirzaei. “She was a lens through which we could see Afghanistan and this opioid addiction epidemic that was happening in the country and is currently happening.” 

Her most recent work, the short film Three Songs for Benazir, which shows living conditions in a displaced persons’ camp through the life of one couple, has been acquired by Netflix for distribution. It was also nominated for an Oscar. 

Read more about Elizabeth Mirzaei in Ms. magazine.