Rule Breakers, a powerful, uplifting new film based on an inspirational true story about the Afghan Dreamers, a Muslim girls’ robotics team entering the world of international competitions, will be released on March 7th to coincide with International Women’s Day.
Directed by Bill Guttentag, the film stars Nikohl Boosheri and features Ali Fazal in an extended special appearance. The cast is elevated by the brilliant and talented young team that includes Amber Afzali, Nina Hosseinzadeh, Sara Malal Rowe, and Mariam Saraj. Also featured are Waj Ali, Naseer Memarzia, Nada El Belkasmi, and Noorin Gulamgaus.
Rule Breakers is based on the true story of Roya Mahboob, who longed to learn about and use computers as a young girl in Afghanistan. The film follows her as she strives to learn and eventually succeeds in teaching herself to use a computer at a cafe. This visionary woman spearheaded the creation of a college class in computer science and went on to start her own technology company. The film’s main focus is how Mahboob dares to teach young girls to dream in a nation where educating females is seen as rebellion. It is about her courage and dedication to fighting for girls’ STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in Afghanistan and around the world. To give the girls an opportunity for more, Roya forms a team for a very special opportunity to build a robot and enter an international robotics competition in Washington, DC. She found her 4-girl team by using flyers to recruit girls who were passionate about learning. Those who showed aptitude and a fierce desire for more in their lives became her protégés. Their challenging journey began. She and her brother Ali inspired and encouraged them as they learned how to build the robots and compete at a high level against more experienced teams. She showed them how to believe in themselves. When their innovation and continued success at robotics competitions around the world draws global attention, their journey sparks hope but also leads to at-home opposition. Their courage and unity ignite a movement that could forever transform the world.
Check out the trailer to set the scene
Produced by Roya Mahboob and her sister Elaha Mahboob, who was also a co-writer, it is a dramatic retelling of Roya’s experiences and highlights her fight for young girls to see beyond their world. It is a moving, maddening, and, at times, overwhelming tale fraught with tension, tears, and cheers. I applaud them for the amazing film and, even more importantly, for their work highlighting the enormous importance of education for girls and women in Afghanistan and across the globe.
The cast is brilliant, especially the young girls on the team, including Amber Afzali as Esin, Nina Hosseinzadeh as Tara, Sara Malal Rowe as Haadiya, and Mariam Saraj as Arezo. Each girl is perfectly cast and play their characters with heart that makes the movie so much more.
Nikohl Boosheri stars as Roya, and she is fantastic. You can feel her frustration through the screen and her overwhelming joy at the end… but I don’t want to give it away.
Special mention has to be made of Noorin Gamgaus, who plays Ali Mehboob. He adds this grounding, supportive energy that makes the story feel even more real instead of reel.
Naseer Memarzia, as Abdul, is outstanding, Waj Ali is excellent, and of course, Ali Fazal, in his extended special appearance, is, as always, terrific.
The overall story is presented incredibly well, but I think some editing and additional scenes would have added even more gravitas. They show a lot of scenes to showcase the immense size of the competitions and the electric excitement and energy of the teams from around the world, but it is too much and too often. It feels more like an ad for the competitions and takes away from the girl’s development as the Afghan Dreamers. We needed more of them, the depth of their story and struggle, and less of the glossy spectacle.
Also, some of the background music, and yes, this is being way picky, was over the top with the choral sections trying to represent and force the emotion instead of seeing the emotion of the team, Roya and Ali. It took me out of the story instead of adding to the tale.
Several important, deeper issues are touched upon in Rule Breakers, but I will let everyone experience those moments for themselves to add to the immersion of this challenging world and feel the hard moments of this excellent film.
Ultimately, this is a significant movie I am still thinking of days later. I am angry that in today’s world, education is still limited, especially for girls. But, this film, overall, gave me hope that rules can be bent and broken, that worlds can expand, and that lives can be changed. It is absolutely, at its essence, pure inspirational brilliance. It is a film that everyone must see!
I cannot recommend this film highly enough.
