The Girl Who Followed the Music

Written and narrated by Sahar Zand, The Conductor tells the extraordinary life story of Negin Khpalwak, whom Sahar met in Kabul. It begins before Negin is born, when her father Ajmal secretly plays his setaar under Taliban rule, and follows that melody through a childhood shaped by war, displacement and separation from her family.

Sent alone to an orphanage in Kabul at the age of ten, Negin eventually discovers the Afghanistan National Institute of Music — and a world she had never imagined possible. Music becomes both a refuge and an act of defiance, carrying her from a frightened audition to the podium of Afghanistan’s first all-female orchestra, where she emerges as its young conductor.

But her growing independence comes at an enormous personal cost. Facing rejection and death threats from members of her own family, Negin is eventually lured home, beaten and imprisoned for six months before escaping with her father — returning to Kabul just days before one of the most important performances of her life. The Conductor is an intimate story of a father and daughter, of tradition and freedom, and of the extraordinary power music can have to shape a life.

May 2021   ·   Vespucci Group