The School of Cinematic Arts and Zeitgeist Films invite you and a guest to a special preview screening of Afghan Star, directed by Havana Marking.

Admission is free and open to all.

About Afghan Star

Winner of the Directing and Audience Awards, 2009 Sundance Festival World Documentary

In Afghanistan, you risk your life to sing. After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, pop culture has returned to the country — and since 2005, millions have tuned in to Tolo TV's wildly popular American Idol-style series Afghan Star. Like its Western predecessors, the show features ordinary people competing for a cash prize and record deal. Surprisingly, the contest is open to everyone across the country, regardless of gender, ethnicity or age. Two thousand people audition, including three extremely brave women. And when viewers vote for their favorites via cell phone, it is, for many, their first encounter with the democratic process.

Havana Marking's timely and moving film follows the dramatic stories of four young finalists — two men and two women — as they hazard everything to become the nation's favorite performer. By observing the Afghani people's relationship to pop culture, Afghan Star is the perfect window into a country's tenuous, ongoing struggle for modernity. What Americans consider frivolous entertainment is downright revolutionary — and more human — in this troubled part of the world.

Provided courtesy of Zeitgeist Films. Unrated. Running time: 88 minutes. U.K./Afghanistan, 2009. In Dari, Pashtun and English, with English subtitles.

Opens at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles for one week only, on Friday, July 24.

To learn more about the film and to view the trailer, click here.

About the School of Cinematic Arts Alumni Screening Series

This June through August, the School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) Alumni Screening Series will host a wide array of film screenings and filmmaker Q&As, highlighting new blockbuster and independent American films, international and documentary features, and recent work by our SCA alumni. These screenings will be hosted in various SCA venues. The screenings are free to the public, but will require an electronic reservation, which can be made through the Web site for each individual screening. Many screenings will be overbooked to ensure that capacity is met in the theater. Some screenings will be run from digital sources.

To view the calendar for the Alumni Screening Series, click here.

About Check-In and Reservations

The theater will be overbooked to ensure capacity, and the RSVP list will be honored on a first-come, first-served basis, with no reserved seating. Please bring a photo ID or printout of your reservation confirmation, which will automatically be sent to your email account once you successfully make an RSVP. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m.

About Parking

The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 West 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $8 at USC Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of West Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue. We recommend parking in outdoor Lot M or V, or Parking Structure D, at the far end of 34th Street. Please note that Parking Structure D cannot accommodate tall vehicles such as SUVs. Metered street parking is also available along West Jefferson Boulevard.