Angels Are Made of Light

Angels Are Made of Light traces the lives of students and teachers at a small school in Kabul, Afghanistan, over three years. Through the school we are introduced to people in the neighborhood. Our first narrator is Sohrab, a boy who hopes his love of books will lead to a life of the mind, not manual labor. Sohrab’s older brother, Rostam, wants to follow his father, but is torn about his future. Their younger brother, Yaldash, feels trapped in his boss’ metal workshop, and dreams of the luxury of study. Their father fears a return of war to the city, and their mother, teacher Fazula, reflects on the changing nature of youth in Afghanistan. As the film progresses, the scope broadens to include characters like Nik Mohammed, a teacher in his sixties whose memories – illustrated with archival sequences – open a window into Afghanistan’s past and politics. Nabiullah, a new boy in the neighborhood, struggles to keep his father’s hot food stand from bankruptcy and imagines a future Afghanist