A little over a year after their departure in total chaos and their arrival in France, welcomed by the great family of the theater, young Afghan actresses present on stage, in Lyon, the story of their exile and their "
dream
" of a modern Afghanistan.
They are now between 19 and 25 years old, have obtained their papers as political refugees, most are enrolled in university, some have a side job.
They comply with the exercise of the interview with an interpreter in order to be able to speak their native language, Dari, but their smiles, their nods, sometimes mischievous looks, let us understand that they often understood the question before its translation.
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Freshta, Shegofa, Atifa, Hussnia... They are nine, discovered amateur theater as teenagers under the guidance of a young local director, Naim Karimi, also in exile.
Their families did not always see their theatrical practice in a good light, they had to convince them to let them practice... then to let them go into exile.
Some of their friends stayed.
In their show,
Le Rêve perdu
, created with the Théâtre Nouvelle Génération (TNG) in Lyon, they evoke with their words the happy memories and then “
the tears
” when the Taliban returned in August 2021.
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They express their nostalgia for their country, they speak of exile, far from those, and especially those, who suffer "
a tyranny inflicted by obscurantism
", they affirm their hope of one day rebuilding a society that lives up to their dreams.
“
Dear country, don't you feel lonely without your children who are gone?
said one of them in the Dari piece, with French surtitles.
Before leaving, "
we were very afraid, but not in relation to living in France, but rather for our country
", explains Atifa Azizpor to AFP.
It was while embarking for France, in extremely difficult conditions, that the rupture arose.
"
I'm too young for this trip
," said one of the actresses on stage.
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They left thanks to a solidarity network launched by the Afghan artist Kubra Khademi, to help artists in his country.
Joris Mathieu, the director of the TNG participates in the initiative from July 2021, a month before the departure of American troops and the return of the Taliban.
But the “
letters of invitation
” turn into “
trip
” and “
hypothetically a one-way ticket
”.
"
We discovered very quickly that our role was first of all to provide hospitality and help with integration by reinforcing French lessons
", says the man who hosted the troupe in connection with the TNP in Villeurbanne.
If I hadn't been an artist, I wouldn't have been integrated
Kubra Khademi
A first year to "
take care
", says Kubra Khademi, to "
allow them to live a little better
" and "
think calmly about the future
".
Then, in a second step, give them the floor, “
create here the conditions that allow them to transmit a message
”.
“
We didn't know exactly what we were going to do here
”, but meeting theater professionals, “
everything changed for us
”: “
we started to learn French and to observe how we practice the boards in France
” , explains Freshta Akbari, one of the actresses.
"
We want to show the beauty of our country's history and culture, and to be the voice of women who can no longer work and be present in society
,” she continues.
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All keep the ardent hope of returning one day to Afghanistan.
"
We are the generation that was forced to leave the country, but we have a responsibility
" vis-à-vis those who remained, underlines Atifa Azizpor.
Director Naim Karimi links the "
progress
" of his country, before the return of the Taliban, to "
immigrants who left Afghanistan, learned things in different countries and returned home
".
A voice in his room proclaims: “
Our dream is not lost
”.
The initiator of the solidarity movement, Kubra Khademi, 33, presents a performance in Lyon entitled
Golden horizon
- Golden horizon.
She took refuge in France in 2015 after a performance in Kabul on the status of women and her solitary exile was painful: "
if I had not been an artist, I would not have been integrated
".
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