Kino Aurora: The Secret Reading Club of Kabul

Age limit: 16. Runtime: 1 h 34 min. Genre: documentary. Year of completion: 2026. Directors: Shakiba Adil, Elina Hirvonen. Language: Original. Subtitles: Finnish.

In Afghanistan, where a violent extremist movement denies women their rights and opportunities, a group of young women secretly gathers to read Anne Frank’s diary. Inspired by Anne Frank, the film’s protagonists want to tell their stories so that the world will not forget them. One woman’s life changes rapidly when the Taliban begin searching for her. Fearing for her life and her family’s honour, she decides to flee the country. Shakiba Adil, an Afghan filmmaker living in Helsinki, helps and supports her in escaping. Shakiba herself has fled Afghanistan twice, risking her life. Through these women’s eyes, the film portrays life in a country ruled by an extremist movement, their hopes, and their efforts to find freedom. THE SECRET READING CLUB OF KABUL, directed by Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen, won the prestigious NORDIC:DOX main prize at Denmark’s CPH:DOX documentary festival.