Films4Tenby’s offering for January was an award-winning animated cartoon, The Breadwinner, and the general feeling was that it was an illuminating and uplifting experience.

Most of us would only get an inkling of what life in Afghanistan was like under Talban by reading books. Khaled Hosseni’s books A Thousand Splendid Suns and the Kite Runner are such books. Now we have The Breadwinner, a children’s book by Deborah Ellis. Ellis worked in Afghan refugee camps and heard many harrowing stories from the children.

The book was made into a cartoon by Irish animation studios,?Cartoon Gold and directed by Nora Twomey and produced by Angelina Jolie.

It won Best Animated Featue in the Academy Awards, 2018.

The Breadwinner tells the story of Parvana, a young girl who disguises herself as a boy to help her family survive. Their father has been taken to prison and as women are not permitted to go out of the house without a male relative, they would not be able to live. They are a family of three - a mother, older daughter, younger daughter, Parvana and a small boy.

Parvana learns how to make a living in the world outside with the help of a friend who is also a girl dressed as a boy.

The family survive because of their spirit and courage. Their mother, Fattema, refuses the offer of help from a bad tempered relation and will not abandon Parvana, who has gone to tell her father in prison they are leaving. Parvana is a gifted storyteller and it’s the power of her story which helps her at a critical time. We do not know if the family survive but we are left in the hope that they do.

The artwork of the film is beautifully done: there are the muted colours of the houses and scenery in and around Kabul as well as the destruction left by war. This is contrasted with the vivid colours of Parvana’s story which is a cartoon within the cartoon.

Future showings are:

Tuesday (February 5) is Book Club and February 19 The Little Stranger.

There is a pre-film meal at the Fuschia Café. ’Phone to book a table (01834 219224).

Films4Tenby Community Cinema is run by Anne Draper and Val Coates Rees with the support of the De Valence Trust. Films are shown on two Tuesdays a month. Films start at 7.30 and there is a bar. Members £4, non members £5. Annual membership fee: £10.