My Sunny Maad

‘My Sunny Maad’ is based on ‘Frišta’, a book by Petra Procházková. She is a Czech journalist, war correspondent and humanitarian worker, who married an Afghan man and lived in Kabul for six years. Pavlátová said that she wanted to make a film about strong women and focuses on the daily life, family secrets and the relationship between husband and wife.

The story follows a Czech woman Herra, who falls in love with an Afghan man, Nazir. She follows him to Afghanistan, even though she has no idea of what she might expect or in which family she will find herself. In Kabul she meets a feminist grandfather and Freshta, a woman who would do anything to escape her abusive husband. They adopt Maad, an astonishingly smart boy.

With his huge, sad eyes and oversized head, he is a bit different from other children, but he is the embodiment of the humanity, tolerance, love and hope which form the core of this compelling story. The film is made in beautiful 2D animation and all the characters are layered and deep. For over seven years, multiple animation teams in several countries have been working on this film with voice actors from all over the world. The film can also count on an extraordinarily atmospheric sound design and a touching soundtrack.