Parvana (voiced by Saara Chaudry) is an 11-year-old girl growing up under the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, whose family is cast into dire straits when her father is wrongfully imprisoned. In Taliban-controlled Kabul, women and girls are not permitted to leave the house unescorted, earn money or shop in the market. So the resourceful Parvana becomes the breadwinner, disguising herself as a boy to support her family.

Alongside her friend Shauzia (Soma Bhatia), she’s exposed to a world of new freedoms normally forbidden to her gender – as well as new dangers. Drawing courage from her imagination and the fantastical stories she invents, she embarks on a quest to find her father and reunite her family.

Equal parts thrilling and enchanting; The Breadwinner employs an innovative mix of 2D animation with painted environments, as well as digital paper cut–out segments. Based on Deborah Ellis’ bestselling novel it’s all woven into a luminous animated tale about growing up in an ever-changing world of conflict and oppression, the strength of girls, and the power of stories to sustain hope through dark times.