Charlottenborg Art Cinema: Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

The new cinema at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Charlottenborg Art Cinema, has been given a unique opportunity through February and March when the cinema will be screening a series of acclaimed documentaries selected by the Why Foundation and created by some of the most respected documentarists.

The Why Foundation has selected 20 award-winning journalistic documentaries and distributed the films in a collected series called World Stories annually since 2015. Kunsthal Charlottenborg and The Why Foundation has collaborated on the screening of four films as a prelude to CPH:DOX by the title World Stories at Kunsthal Charlottenborg.

Dancing Boys of Afghanistan
The instructors Najibullah Quraishi and Jamie Doran sheds light upon an ancient tradition in Afghanistan, where poor boys from the age of 10 unknowingly ends up as so-called “Bacha Bazi” – dancing boys.

The Boys are trained to sing and dance in seducing dresses in front of a male audience. Among the power elites there is a secret prestige in ‘owning’ the most talented dancing boys who are bought, sold and exploited sexually. This practice is illegal but nevertheless widespread, as the marked of The Dancing Boys consists of the power elite of society.

Duration: 45 min
Instruction: Najibullah Quraishi and Jamie Doran
Country: Afghanistan

The documentary will be played continuously from February 23 at 11 a.m. until March 1 at 4 p.m.

Trailer to World Stories:
https://vimeo.com/190714614