Oscar Winner Borenstein Joins Afghan Refugee Doc as EP
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- David Borenstein, Oscar-winning director of Mr. Nobody Against Putin, is coming on board as executive producer on A Fox Under a Pink Moon, declaring it a contender for next year's Academy Awards
- Soraya Akhlaghi, a 16-year-old Afghan refugee living in Tehran, co-directed the film with Mehrdad Oskouei and created all artwork plus shot visuals largely on her phone, documenting her experience as a child bride attempting to escape to Europe
- A Fox Under a Pink Moon is described as an undercover filming project that takes viewers inside Akhlaghi's abusive arranged marriage with 'almost unbearable intimacy,' per Borenstein's statement
- The documentary won IDFA's top prize — Best Film in International Competition — plus awards at ZagrebDox in Croatia and Full Frame in Durham, NC
- Borenstein called Akhlaghi a 'revelation,' 'punk rock,' and 'preternaturally gifted artist,' writing that her sculpture, painting, and cinematography 'weave her joy, her hopes, and her pain into its fabric'
- The film's executive producing roster also includes Rebecca Lichtenfeld and Chandra Jessee for the InMaat Foundation, Siavesh Jamali, and Tony Tabatznik
Why it matters: Borenstein's stated mission to find 'the biggest audience we can find' for a 16-year-old self-taught artist pairs an Oscar-winning platform with a documentary that IDFA jurors praised for letting its protagonist 'reclaim identity amid exile and domestic violence,' giving Akhlaghi's undercover phone-shot film a credible path toward Academy Awards contention.
