Let Her Sing® Film Screenings

Women, Music & the Freedom to Sing

As part of the 10th anniversary of Let Her Sing®: A Celebration of Female Voices, Diaspora Arts Connection & Far Cinema present a special program of films at YBCA on Sunday, and October 11, 2026, exploring the lives of women who refuse to let censorship, social expectations, and restrictions on artistic expression silence their voices.

Together, Sonita, A Sister’s Tale, Unfinished Piece, and No Land’s Song offer powerful perspectives on women, music, and the fundamental right to be heard. Moving between Afghanistan, Iran, Europe, and the diaspora, these films show how singing can become an act of self-determination, resistance, cultural memory, and freedom.

Audiences may purchase tickets to individual screenings or experience the complete program with a four-film package.

Sonita

Directed by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami

Sonita follows a spirited young Afghan refugee living in Tehran who dreams of becoming a rapper. While she writes songs inspired by artists she admires and imagines a future in music, her family has other plans: they intend to marry her off in exchange for money.

Living in a country where women face restrictions on singing publicly, Sonita turns to rap as a way to tell her own story and challenge the forces trying to determine her future. Director Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami follows her remarkable journey as music becomes a means of resisting forced marriage, claiming independence, and making herself heard.

At once intimate and urgent, Sonita is a portrait of a young woman discovering that her voice can become one of her most powerful tools for freedom.

The Unfinished Song

Directed by Maziar Miri

Set in Iran, The Unfinished Song follows Farhad, a young musicologist who travels to Khorasan in search of traditional folk songs sung by women. As he tries to document a musical heritage that is disappearing from public life, he discovers that women’s voices are largely confined to lullabies and mourning songs.

His search leads him to Jiran, a gifted singer whose voice has made her a target of restrictions on women singing publicly. What begins as an effort to preserve regional music becomes a deeply human story about censorship, cultural memory, and the consequences of silencing women’s artistic expression.

Released in 2001, Maziar Miri’s film speaks directly to the central questions of Let Her Sing®: what happens to a culture when women are prevented from singing, and what is lost when their voices disappear from public life?

The Unfinished Song is a poignant reflection on music as heritage, voice as identity, and the enduring struggle for women’s freedom to perform and be heard.

A Sister’s Tale

Directed by Leila Amini

Filmed over seven years, A Sister’s Tale is director Leila Amini’s deeply personal portrait of her sister, Nasreen, a mother of two living in Tehran who begins to reclaim a dream she had long put aside: becoming a singer.

After years devoted to marriage and family, Nasreen becomes determined to pursue music despite opposition within her marriage and the restrictions placed on women singing publicly in Iran. With her sister behind the camera, we witness a gradual and profound transformation as Nasreen moves from suppressing her ambitions to taking control of her artistic and personal life.

What begins as the story of one woman finding her voice becomes a moving examination of family, marriage, motherhood, and female self-determination—and of how one woman’s decision to change her life can reverberate through generations.

No Land’s Song

Directed by Ayat Najafi

In No Land’s Song, Iranian composer Sara Najafi sets out to accomplish something that has become extraordinarily difficult in Iran: organize a public concert featuring women singing solo.

Determined to revive a musical tradition pushed from public life, Sara brings together Iranian and French women musicians for a concert in Tehran. Director Ayat Najafi follows the project over more than two years as Sara navigates government bureaucracy, censorship, cultural restrictions, and uncertainty over whether the performance will ever be permitted to take place.

Part musical journey and part chronicle of resistance, No Land’s Song examines what happens when a society restricts the female voice—and how musicians across borders can come together to challenge silence through art, collaboration, and solidarity.

See One Film — or Experience All Four

Each film stands on its own, offering a distinct story of women asserting their right to sing, create, and determine their own lives.

Together, the four screenings form a larger conversation at the heart of Let Her Sing®: What does it mean when a woman’s voice is restricted—and what becomes possible when she is finally heard?

Individual screening tickets are available for each film. Audiences can also purchase a four-film package and experience the complete Let Her Sing® film program.

Sunday, October 11, 2026
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), San Francisco

Presented by Diaspora Arts Connection as part of the 10th anniversary of Let Her Sing®: A Celebration of Female Voices.

Please consider becoming a sponsor of Let Her Sing or making a donation to support our organization.