DYANA AFGHAN WOMEN'S FUND SCREENING OF THE GIANT BUDDHAS WILL BENEFIT PROJECTS IN AFGHANISTAN

TORONTO, ONTARIO - January 29, 2007 - Today, Nelofer Pazira, founder and Chair of the Dyana Afghan Women's Fund (DAWF) and best known for her starring role in the 2001 film Kandahar, and The Royal cinema announce a benefit screening of the Christian Frei film, The Giant Buddhas. The event, which includes a talk and post-screening discussion by Ms. Pazira, will take place at The Royal, 608 College Street, Toronto, on Sunday February 11, 2007, beginning at 2:30 p.m.

During a visit to her native Afghanistan in 2002, Pazira was inspired by the work of Safia Ama Jan, a former teacher who had founded a literacy and craft centre for women. "She was a dedicated person, and was able to address the needs of local women through a simple means: education", Pazira said.

When Pazira returned to Canada, she and a small group of volunteers then set about acquiring charitable status for a not-for-profit organization and named it the Dyana Afghan Women's Fund, in honour of Pazira's late Afghan friend, Dyana, the subject of her own documentary, Return to Kandahar. "With the ongoing war and destruction in Afghanistan so much in the headlines, it is important to remember that ordinary people - women, children, seniors - have somehow to continue with their lives and find some hope for the future. That is what DAWF now provides for a fortunate few, and would like to offer to many more women and their families."

Since then, conditions have worsened in Kandahar and in 2006 the Taliban murdered Ama Jan and the Women's Centre closed. The DAWF has started a small school in a village in Bamiyan province. DAWF provides financial and material resources for literacy and numeracy classes for about 25 local women.

Bamiyan was also the site of two 1,500-year-old giant Buddhas carved side-by-side in separate niches on an ancient cliff face. In March 2001, on orders from Mullah Omar, the sculptures were destroyed.

The existence and destruction of these revered icons intrigued Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei and he began what he calls an "inquiry" into their demise in 2003. His documentary, The Giant Buddhas, has drawn international attention to the issue of preserving cultural treasures in the face of reactionary forces. The Giant Buddhas has since appeared in more than 36 international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival. Nelofer Pazira plays a major onscreen part in the film. The project has led to efforts to re-construct and restore the Buddhas as part of Afghanistan's national heritage.