2nd Annual SWAN Documentary Film Forum: Afghanistan and 'What Tomorrow Brings'

2nd ANNUAL SAIS WOMEN'S ALUMNI NETWORK DOCUMENTARY FILM FORUM

Join the SAIS Women's Alumni Network (SWAN) and the New York Film Academy for a very special evening including a screening of the award-winning ‘What Tomorrow Brings’ documentary which tells an inspiring, poignant story of a girls school in rural Afghanistan and the lives that it touches to be followed by reflections about this complex country from two different perspectives.

REMARKS FROM SAIS PROFESSOR SARAH SEWALL | Afghanistan: Governance, Engagement and Sustainability

SCREENING AND COMMENTARY FROM FILMMAKER BETH MURPHY | What Tomorrow Brings

* Registration begins at 6pm and the program will start at 6:30pm. Please join us for a networking reception to follow.

• Sarah Sewall, Speyer Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, will provide expert insights into government intervention, the controversies of nation-building, and a sustainable path forward in Afghanistan, touching on her experience as former Undersecretary of Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights under the Obama Administration.

• Beth Murphy, award-winning filmmaker from the Ground Truth Project and the Director/Producer of What Tomorrow Brings (Principle Pictures), will provide first-hand reflections about what drew her to tell this story and the real-life impact it has had. The film has won numerous accolades (Overseas Press Club Award, RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award, Alfred I. DuPont- Columbia University Award, Jonathan Daniels Award) and since its release, Beth helped raise the necessary funds through a Crowdsourcing campaign to build the first women's college next door.

• Documentary Film: What Tomorrow Brings (52 min): With unprecedented access, WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS goes inside the very first girls’ school in one small Afghan village. From the school’s beginnings in 2009 to its first graduation in 2015, the film traces the interconnected stories of students, teachers, village elders, parents, and school founder Razia Jan. Filmmaker Beth Murphy embeds herself in this school and community for a most intimate look at what it really means to be a girl growing up in Afghanistan today.

A special thank you to the New York Film Academy for partnering with SWAN and hosting this Film Forum.

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The SWAN Documentary Film Forum

The SAIS Women Alumni Documentary Film Forum tackles important trends and issues in Global Development with the diverse technical expertise of SAIS alumni and the power of documentary film. We encourage thoughtful, cross-discpline debate among SAIS graduates, friends and the international community.

SAIS Women's Alumni Network (SWAN)

The Johns Hopkins SAIS Women's Alumni Network (SWAN) was launched in 2014 to educate and train leaders, assess impact, leverage SAIS technical expertise, drive discussion and build community. SWAN is a key pillar of the broader SAIS Women Lead (SWL) initiative which brings together alumni, students, faculty, policymakers and market experts to promote women in leadership. Find out more: www.swan.strikingly.com.

To support SAIS Women Lead initiatives, click here.