Love Marriage in Kabul: A Memoir

In 2006, Sanaz Fotouhi, a young woman in her twenties, travels to Afghanistan with her partner to make a film.

Seven years and four trips later their feature documentary Love Marriage in Kabul wins awards and the hearts of audiences in Australia and around the world.

Love Marriage in Kabul: A Memoir is the behind-the-scenes account of the hardships and heartaches, tears and joys of the seemingly impossible project of making a film in Afghanistan. It is the story of a young woman’s determination to confront her fears to provide an insight into the hidden world of Afghanistan’s widows and orphans.

With rare compassion and lucidity, Sanaz Fotouhi chronicles her inner struggles and external events and leads us to interrogate our own notion of humanity.

The manuscript of Love Marriage in Kabul: A Memoir won the University of Melbourne’s 2019 Peter Blazey Fellowship.

Praise for Love Marriage in Kabul: A Memoir

‘This is a beautifully written memoir about local traumas and predicaments, pitching them – often uneasily – against global movement and an increasingly cosmopolitan self-awareness.’

— Judges of the Peter Blazey Fellowship

‘While the narrative tension of this absorbing story is generated by the pitfalls and dangers of making a film in Afghanistan, and the drawn-out negotiations with the bride-to-be’s father to allow the wedding to take place, it is the children, with their tragic stories, irrepressible energy and dignity who win our hearts.’

— Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald

‘What makes Love Marriage in Kabul a particularly joyous read is Fotouhi’s ability to retain a literary flavour in what could have otherwise been a self-indulgent autobiography […] Fotouhi’s gift for language is on full display.’

— Kiran Bhat, Mekong Review