Sanaz Fotouhi

I am doing a fundraiser to assist bring an Afghan family of six with four children aged between under one to ten to Australia.

I have grappled a lot with this since it has been so close to my heart.

Imagine being a young father of four young children ranging between a few months and ten years old. Now imagine that your three daughters can never go to school, that your wife can never work, and that you are the sole provider of that family. Add to this that you cannot find work because of your ethnic background and that your life is in imminent danger and you and your family have to pack up every few months to stay in hiding.

This has been the life of my friend and his family in Kabul since the Taliban returned a few years ago.

When he reached out to me, I could not but take any action necessary to help them get out of there and into Australia. While I cannot reveal much more about their identity at this stage, all I can say is we need money in the first step of their journey to get them out. Once we hit that milestone, I can share a lot more generously about their journey.

No contribution is too small. Please help with as much as you can.

Help an Afghan Family get out of Kabul Imagine being a young father of four young children ranging between a few months and ten years old. Now imagine that your three daughters can never go to school, that your wife can never work, and that you are the sole provider of that family. Add to this that you cannot find work because of your et...

Shout out to my Melbourne women friends. I'll be speaking at an event in the spirit of and an extension of International Women's Day, on the 19th of March. Proceeds will go to the Turkey Earthquake appeal.

Celebrating Women Join our line up of women keynote speakers as they share their inspirational personal journeys.

This is something I wrote in response to what's going on in Iran from a lived historical perspective. Read it while you can before it becomes exclusive.

'Dressed and undressed in the uniform of the regimes': Sanaz Fotouhi on growing up in Iran 'Dressed and undressed in the uniform of the regimes': Sanaz Fotouhi on growing up in Iran

Thanks to everyone who came to the book Cyprus Book Launch of Love Marriage in Kabul: A memoir. What a privilege.

An interview in the Cypriot newspaper Havadis today about my work and upcoming book launch. First one I can’t fully read and understand myself - yet.

So this is happening! Very honoured to be part of the Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts speaking about my memoir and writing process amongst other things. Check out the online program while you can. https://www.festival.nz/events/all/sanaz-fotouhi-love-marriage-kabul-online/

Sanaz Fotouhi: Love Marriage in Kabul (AUS / Online) | Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts 100+ arts experiences, 1000s of conversations sparked: join us at the largest celebration of cutting-edge culture, the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

Friends, we have less than 20 days left to fundraise for Mahboba's Promise. They have done an incredible job recently of bringing over 11 kids from the harsh conditions of Afghanistan who would have lost their lives to Australia. Please support me, support them. The money we are raising will be used for relocating displaced people.
https://chuffed.org/project/emergency-relief-fund-the-kids-in-afghanistan-needs-you

Emergency Relief Fund - The kids in Afghanistan needs you My name is Ayda Sabri,I am the founder of Gift a Dream Foundation and together with my friend Sanaz Fotouhi, author and documentary maker, we invite you to help us help Mahboba Rawi, the Founder of Mahboba's Promise.

So, this happens this weekend! I am part of this wonderful panel at JLF Colorado 2021! I am in conversation with amazing women about our experiences of Kabul.
Register at https://jlflitfest.org/colorado/registration and check it out.

Thanks to Persis Karim for the initiative. So honoured to be featured in the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University. https://centerforiraniandiasporastudies.wordpress.com/2021/09/06/iranian-diaspora-spotlight-sanaz-fotouhi-on-connecting-through-stories-film-literature-and-her-own-storytelling/

For the award-winning writer, filmmaker, and Australia-based scholar, Sanaz Fotouhi, a passion for creativity started from a very young age in Iran. “When I was really young, maybe eight years old, there was a little magazine called Keyhan Bacheha; I don’t think they print it in Iran anymore. They would often print children’s stories in the center of the magazine,” recalls Fotouhi. “One day at school the teachers encouraged us to write a little story and to send it for possible publication in the magazine. And so, I wrote a little story. A tiny little story. Back then I hand-wrote it with my child’s handwriting, took my mum by the hand, and we went to the post office in Tehran, and posted the letter,” she says. Eventually, after several months, Fotouhi received a letter from Shaparak, (the nickname for the editor of that section) that said how much the editor liked her story and that it would be published. Fotouhi says she was thrilled by the acceptance of her work, and the additional note by the editor to, “keep writing” and that if she continued, she might one day “become a world-famous writer.” You can read the full interview with Sanaz Fotouhi by Center summer intern and Melbourne University student, Ava Zandi, on our blog, “With A Trace.” Click the link in our bio or go to tinyurl.com/SanazFotouhi. #iranian #iraniandiaspora #iranianaustralian #iranianAustralianwriters #lovemarriageinkabul #iraniandiasporaliterature #identity

Friends, as we all know the situation in Afghanistan is currently disastrous. There is an urgent need for food, water and shelter for people being displaced as the result of the recent events.

Together with my friend Ayda Sabri we have created a fundraising campaign to support Mahboba's Promise who is actively working on the ground to attend to people. Please take the time to chip into this cause. Your money goes a long way.

All proceeds will go directly to Mahboba's Promise who will use it for urgent shelter, food and water and other necessities for stranded families.

https://chuffed.org/project/emergency-relief-fund-the-kids-in-afghanistan-needs-you

Emergency Relief Fund - The kids in Afghanistan needs you My name is Ayda Sabri,I am the founder of Gift a Dream Foundation and together with my friend Sanaz Fotouhi, author and documentary maker, we invite you to help us help Mahboba Rawi, the Founder of Mahboba's Promise.

If you are free this weekend, drop in on this really wonderful and timely conference on the theme of Empathy organized by the Virtual School of Australia beautifully curated by Paramita Roy. I will be speaking on Sunday and really excited about it. It is online and it is free with the code 'empathy' when you check out. So, drop in and check out this thought provoking line up of speakers.

Global Empathy Conference – Virtual School Australia

To all the humans out there,

I write this with a very heavy heart. I wish we didn’t come to this. But we have.

Like many in the world, I have been sitting in silence and observing. Watching in distress as our uncertain future unfolds, worried, anxious and at times angry. Like many, I have been guilty of engaging in side taking conversations, blaming and the occasional social media rants in the ocean of stimuli that we are exposed to everyday. My shares have been often personal and conservative, trying to keep with the status quo and being nice about it all. That’s my expertise, the ability to present everything as nice. Others have different expertise - they are blunt like sharp knives. Neither is effective. My sugar drops often give nothing away and the knives cut far too deep to make a difference.

But today, I have decided to openly contribute. I offer you neither sugar drops nor sharp edges. What I would like to do here is to take a rattle and start shaking it, and ask everyone who comes across it to start shaking theirs too. To make some effective noise. For silence seems to no longer offer peace. Silence, it seems, has become a sign of consent and agreement.
There are too many things I have sat by and watched in silence with which I do not agree nor consent. Yesterday watching what unfolded in Afghanistan with the comeback of the Taliban after the Western troops left in the midst of Melbourne’s sixth extended lockdown, was the tipping point of that silent buck that filled up and can no longer keep quiet.

Many of us watch what is going on in Afghanistan and feel sad about it. What else can we do? Few, other than those on the ground truly understand the gravity of what’s unfolding and why we should do everything in our powers to collectively change what’s going on there. You see, I have been to Afghanistan four times between 2006 and 2013 as part of a documentary team to make two films including Love Marriage in Kabul The first film that I co-produced was about women’s self-burning as a form of su***de after the Taliban had left. In this short and very distributing investigation we wanted to understand why women were burning themselves after the Taliban had left. It was then that I saw the effects of such an extreme regime on the lives of the people there. The impact of this was so huge in my own life that it took me years to recover from it and it became the subject of my book Love Marriage in Kabul: A Memoir.

But just imagine yourself for a minute in a society where if you were a woman you couldn’t leave your home without a male companion; where you couldn’t listen to music; dance; go to school, attend a concert, wear make up, not to mention many many many other death biding restrictions. I was witness to the consequences of the women’s lives after they understood what was going around the world.

And you see, this is happening again. People of Afghanistan are at the risk of having everything they have worked for be taken away from them. Every thing.

This time, however, it is different. When we heard about the Taliban taking over first back when they did, we didn’t have the internet as accessible. We got delayed news from CNN or BBC. Even if we wanted to do something, we couldn’t. There was nothing we could do.

Today, we are seeing live reports and videos of what’s going on and we have the chance to make noise. To make enough noise as a unit around the world to make our politicians and decision makers shudder and wake up and take action.

If you say, well, how is my little voice going to make a difference. I’ll tell you it does. You see I come from Iran. Just before I was born the people of my country protested in mass. All the people like me and you got together and they became really really really loud. Until they could no longer be ignored. Until they were louder than the governments, and their guns, and more than their prison cells. United in their voice and action they managed to overthrow a monarchy! (Lets not worry about what happened after which is a different story.) But what I am saying is that if enough people make enough noise, politicians and governments cannot continue. I know. I have seen it happen in my own country.
This is why I am no longer choosing to stay silent at the cost of safety, being disliked, labeled or shunned as an outcast. Reason being that it is actually no longer about me. It is about our obligation to the world and our contribution to the way we want to create the world. Our world. And our world cannot be a divided one for it to be in harmony.

Yet unfortunately it is, We are all starting to contribute to the great divide, wanting or not wanting. Let me put it another way.
If you sit there and feel sorry for people in Afghanistan whose lives are going to be doom and gloom, because of the divide that the Taliban are bringing again and you think how lucky we are that we live in this free world, think again and watch as history repeats itself.

Imagine you are living in Melbourne. A nice leafy suburb with nice respectable neighbours, Mr and Mrs Smith. They are very lovely human beings and you like their company. Now imagine that Mr and Mrs Smith do not comply with certain rules (not laws) that the government puts in place because it is against their belief system and they feel like they are being forced into doing something they don’t want to do. And now there are further rules that prevents them from being part of the society because of the choices they are making within the law. Yet, as the result of their choices, they can’t travel, they can’t eat at the pub with you, go to the mall, and lose some of their most basic rights. Gradually, they are outcast and shunned. Are they still good people in your books? Do you shun them? Does your opinion about them change? Add to this the constant pressure from the media that these kind of people are horrible and should be outcasted, even left out of society.

Now, replace Mr and Mrs Smith with ‘the women in Afghanistan’ or Mr and Mrs Frank in the Netherlands. Replace what they are being discriminated against with ‘their skin colour,’ ‘ethnicity,’ ‘religion,’ ‘gender,’ or ‘rights over their own body.’ Then, after the fact, we spend decades wanting to clean up to erase the dark past and justify the insanity by saying ‘sorry.’ Where has had led us?

Do you see where I am going with this? I know it is all relative, but a division created by a government and group of people is still a division between people. Have we not lived through enough of this already.

Here, I am nudging you to really question what’s being said to you. Question its authority and motive. For example, why are we being denied the healthiest activities for our children - sunshine and play - while brothels remain open? Why do gym close while bottle shops open? Why do we hear nothing about raising our immunity, the impact of fear and stress on the body or the importance of the natural hormones that boost our health when we are around family and friends?

I am in no way advocating anarchy but all I am saying is let us promote gentle and civilised conversations that contribute to unity and not division; that make noise to change policies and bad leaders and decision makers.

In and amongst this, as a mother to a two year old, both of whose birthdays have been cancelled and who has never been held by his grandparents, whose only impression of them is through the screen, I cannot emphasise the golden words of one of the most important figures of our time, Gabor Maté, to ‘hold on to your kids.’ This is the time when we need to hold our kids close to our hearts, and keep their souls pure from fear, anger and division. For you see, we can focus all our resources on creating vaccines against this and that, and trying to undo the damages of climate change, and overthrow extremist governments, but the problem is not going to be solved. These issues were created not overnight; but as the result of bad leadership and by people individually and collectively who have lost their way, who were at some stages divided and had to compensate in some way. Those leaders today are the kids of yesterday and the product of our educational systems and institutions.

And that puts grave responsibility on us to raise our children well. To take their education into our own hands and question the system and what’s being taught, and all the labels that are being thrown at them that is dividing them; to reclaim them from the barren and empty oasis of the screen; we need to reeducate our children at the soul and heart level, to go back to the basics of humanness, if we are to save the future of our world.

You see we are sitting at a cross roads of a great divide my friend. We can choose to keep dividing or to unite. But for unity to happen we must start at home and with ourselves and with our children. And to do this we must unite in our lack of consent to division. I urge you to share and make a bit of noise by shaking the rattle. To express your concerns. It will make a difference - even if to yourself. But more importantly I urge you to be kind. To have compassion for yourself and everyone around you, for we are all in this together and we must take control of this together to change our future. And that future is not tomorrow or next year but right here, right now.

So thrilled to be featured amongst these wonderful and powerful women. Thank you What She Did Next - Podcast for your work.

8 lessons from change-making women on how to have a positive impact THe highlights episode of What She Did Next third season is a chance to be inspired all over again by the incredible ways women in Australia are stepping up and making their mark on the world.

Happy Norouz. نوروزتان پيروز

Woohoo. First ever in person book launch!

Join me at Eltham Bookshop at the eve of the Persian New Year on the 21st of March at 2:30 to 4:30 for the first physical launch of my book Love Marriage in Kabul: A Memoir. Check it out and book yourself in!

Final Bookings! Book Launch for Love Marriage in Kabul

Friends, I'll be in conversation with the wonderful Jacqui Ooi host and producer of What She Did Next, a podcast showcasing the fascinating career stories of Australian women from diverse fields and backgrounds, and their journey of facing and embracing change.this Friday for an event hosted by Gleebooks.

Make sure you register to join us.
https://www.gleebooks.com.au/event/sanaz-fatouhi-love-marriage-in-kabul/

So thrilled that Love Marriage in Kabul has been Pick of the Week on The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age today. I feel so honoured.

Non-fiction: Love Marriage in Kabul and three other books Sanaz Fotouhi’s experiences making a film at an orphanage run by an Afghan Australian are at the core of her moving memoir.

If you are after something inspiring to listen to, check out What She Did Next - Podcast. I had to honour to appear on this podcast this month. Check it out and listen on your favourite platform: https://linktr.ee/WhatSheDidNext

If you're looking for some inspirational and really cool content, check out Sarah Maxwell's Podcast series In the Game. "Each week Sarah Maxwell and Natalie Cook sit down with some of their favourite high achievers who have manifested what most merely dream about, showing us all how to deliberately create results."

I was in conversation with Sarah late last year. Listen to this episode here where I talk about persistence and what it took to manifest and finish the writing of my book.




Ayda Sabri
Aygun Ozkan

‎In The Game Podcast: 111: Love Marriage in Kabul - 14 years to manifest by Sanaz Fotouhi on Apple Podcasts ‎Show In The Game Podcast, Ep 111: Love Marriage in Kabul - 14 years to manifest by Sanaz Fotouhi - 23 de nov. de 2020

If you are looking for some very interesting and fun content on youtube while still on holidays, don't miss out Bob Greenberg's very cool channel called Brainwave Video Anthology. I had the privilege of being part of his amazing work where I talk about my latest book.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwDSZLwfQvDwmdPbnf30yOw






Ayda Sabri
Aygun Ozkan

Sanaz Fotouhi - Love Marriage in Kabul: A Memoir Sanaz Fotouhi was born in Iran soon after the revolution, during the Iran-Iraq war. Her father’s job as a banker took her and her family to many countries be...

Thank you Sabri and friends at Mahboba's Promise for being witness to my experiences of Mahbobas Promise Hope House in Kabul yesterday.

I have so much passion, compassion and love for what my amazing friend Rawi does for the women amd children of Afghanistan. I strongly support her cause and encourage you to look into what she does.

Right now if you purchase a copy of Love Marriage in Kabul: A memoir through the site of Mahbobas Promise you will be supporting her cause. There is still time to give a gift of support for Christmas. You can see more here:

https://mahbobaspromise.org/love-marriage-in-kabul/