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Vida Zaher Khadem
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Vida Zaher Khadem was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, the granddaughter of the renowned Senator and Poet Qyammuddin Khadem. In 1980 the Russians invaded Afghanistan and killed several members of her family including her grandfather. Vida and her family fled the country, trekking over mountains on horseback and on foot for several days before reaching the bordering country of Pakistan. She was seven years old.
In October of 1984 her mother was hired as a broadcaster for Voice of America and the family finally immigrated to the United States.
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Vida showed a passion for painting and theater early on. She began writing and directing short commercials at the age of eleven. While still in school she wrote and directed plays and short comedic films, and hosted a festival of short plays during the summer holiday. By the age of sixteen Vida had made eleven short films and four sitcoms for the Cable Access Network. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Media Communication and Film from George Mason University and was awarded the Best Student Film Award for her thesis film Bound by the Flesh.
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Vida is a courageous soul who has put her life on the line many times to give voice to those in need. During the time of the Taliban she was the first woman to enter Afghanistan with a camera and interview the Taliban Foreign Minister on the subject of Women's Rights. This brave effort became the much sought after documentary A Bleak Existence which was showcased at the Beijing Plus Five Summit in New York City and at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. A Bleak Existence was screened by the State Department, the International Organization for Migration, UNICEF and other NGO's and became a primary educational tool for understanding Afghanistan and its politics.
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Vida began working on her first feature Film FireDancer as the Assistant Director and Co-Producer. FireDancer was the first film of its kind, telling the story of the Afghan Diaspora living in America. After the untimely death of the director, Vida became the Associate Director, finishing the film on his behalf. The film went on to become Afghanistan's first official entry into the Academy Awards. It was an official selection at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Mill Valley Film Festival and Film Fest DC. It opened at the Quad Cinema in New York City and played in theaters all over United States and Canada.
The film went on to become Afghanistan’s first official entry into the Academy Awards. It was an official selection at Tribeca Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival and Film Fest DC. It opened at the Quad Cinema in New York City and played in theaters all over United States and Canada.
In the summer of 2001 Vida was ready for the role she had prepared for all her life, the chance to direct a feature length documentary and become the first female Afghan director. Return to Afghanistan is Vida's directorial debut, a highly personal coming of age story. It will premiere at the United Nations on October 16, 2007.
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