The Asifa Bano Story
Documentary • 39 min • English / Urdu • USA / Pakistan / India • 2024
Eight-year-old Asifa Bano lived with her family in Kashmir, part of the nomadic Muslim Gujjar community. Loved deeply by her family, Asifa often cared for the family's horses.
In January 2018, Asifa disappeared while tending to the horses near the village of Rasana. Days later, her body was found. The investigation into her abduction, rape, and murder exposed deep divisions surrounding religion, politics, and the treatment of minority communities in the region.
The Asifa Bano Story traces the case through interviews, news footage, documentary evidence, and dramatic reconstruction, examining both the crime and the prejudices surrounding it.
At its center remains Asifa herself: a little girl whose life was far greater than the circumstances of her death, and whose story became a devastating symbol of the human cost of hatred and division.
DIRECTED BY
Mina JafriMalik & Zainab Malik
WRITTEN BY
Mina JafriMalik & Imtiaz Malik
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Imtiaz Malik
WATCH THE TRAILER
AWARDS & FESTIVALS
Selected recognition and screenings.
Best First Time Director
Best Original Song
Best Documentary Feature
Best First Time Director
Best Producer
Best Editing
Best Bollywood Film
Best Documentary Short
Best First Time Director
Best Producer
Best Female Director
Best Director
SELECTED STILLS
