Humaira Ghilzai

Humaira Ghilzai
Humaira Ghilzai
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Born	August 1968 (age 55); Kabul, Afghanistan
Alma mater	Mills College; San Jose State University;
Occupation	Cultural advisor; Writer; Speaker; Producer; Educator;
Known for	Cultural consultant for The Kite Runner on Broadway; A Thousand Splendid Suns opera; Selling Kabul; Apple TV's Little America

Humaira Ghilzai (born August 1968) is an Afghan-American cultural advisor on Afghanistan for theater, opera, television and film. As a part of her cultural advocacy Humaira writes a blog Afghan Culture Unveiled^[1], and speaks about Afghanistan, its people, women and the plight of refugees.^[2]

Humaira's cultural advisory work on the Broadway production of the The Kite Runner^[3] and Off-Broadway production of Heartland and the opera A Thousand Spendid Suns^[4] has been mentioned in The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The Economist, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presee, and on PBS Newshour, NPR and BBC's Music Matters.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10].

Her advisory work on regional theater shows includes Selling Kabul^[11] (a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama)^[12], Blood and Gifts, The Most Dangerous Highway in the World^[13], Two Jews Walk Into a War^[14], and Slow Falling Bird^[15]. She has also worked on the Apple TV show Little America, and the films A Merry Friggin' Christmas, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and Away, Together.^[16]

Humaira has presented about Afghan women, Afghanistan history, Afghan culture and issues of gender equality in Muslim countries^[17] to The Commonwealth Club, the World Affairs Council, the Global Fund For Women, The Asia Foundation, Women for Women International, KPMG, Klayvio, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Humaira is a faculty member of “The Immigration Experience in California Through Literature and History” at San Jose State University’s National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute.^[18]

Early Life & Education

Humaira was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. Her family fled the country in 1979 after the Russians invaded Afghanistan.^[19] They took political asylum in the United States and made the San Francisco Bay Area their new home.^[20] Humaira attended Mills College and San Jose State University and has a degree in International Business.

Social Entrepreneur

Humaira co-founded Afghan Friends Network in 2003.^[21] The Afghan Friends Network (AFN) raised over $550,000 to improve education for boys, girls and women in the province of Ghazni. AFN has educated 4,300 girls and 350 mothers, provided educational programs for over 1000 boys with English, science and math after school classes. AFN also provided university scholarships to 26 girls and 8 boys, trained 450 male and female teachers, and employed 25 Afghans in the province of Ghazni.^[22]

In 2006 Humaira co-founded the Hayward/Ghazni Sister City (HGSCC) which was approved by Sister Cities International.^[23] The HGSCC relationship offered ordinary Americans living in Hayward and the Northern California Bay Area an opportunity to extend a hand of friendship to ordinary Afghans in Ghazni, Afghanistan. HGSCC has been focused on Person-to-Person Diplomacy and has created and supported humanitarian projects. Many members of the HGSCC members have traveled to Afghanistan, and have hosted visitors from there as well. HGSCC continues to support projects in Afghanistan.

Theater and TV/Film

BROADWAY: Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s best selling book: The Kite Runner, directed by Giles Croft
OFF-BROADWAY: Gabriel Jason Dean’s play Heartland directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh^[24]
TOURS: Ursula Rani Sarma’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, directed by Carey Perloff
REGIONAL THEATER: Seattle Rep in Seattle, Washington and Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia: Sylvia Khoury’s play, Selling Kabul; La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California: J. T. Rogers’ play Blood and Gifts directed by Lucie Tibergien; Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco, California: Kevin Artique’s play, The Most Dangerous Highway in the World directed by Evren Odickin^[25]; Theatre J in the District of Columbia: Seth Rozin’s play, Two Jews Walk Into a War directed by Adam Immerwahr
OPERA: World Premiere of Sheila Silver’s A Thousand Splendid Suns opera directed by Roya Sadat at the Seattle Opera^[26]
TV/FILM: Apple TV: Little America; Film: A Merry Friggin' Christmas, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Away, Together

Educational Work

The University of San Francisco: Slow Falling Bird
“The Immigration Experience in California Through Literature and History” at San Jose State University’s National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute.

References

External links

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[1] ttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/afghan-food_l_61624831e4b0fc312c97e384

[2] ttps://www.kalw.org/show/your-call/2021-08-24/the-plight-of-afghan-refugees

[3] ttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/theater/the-kite-runner-amir-arison.html

[4] ttps://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/classical-music/seattle-operas-a-thousand-splendid-suns-how-a-new-opera-is-born/

[5] ttps://www.economist.com/culture/2023/02/24/the-tragic-timeliness-of-a-thousand-splendid-suns

[6] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bTl-fGcTj0

[7] ttps://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230224-a-thousand-splendid-suns-opera-spotlights-afghan-women

[8] ttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/best-selling-afghan-novel-the-kite-runner-is-adapted-for-broadway/

[9] ttps://www.npr.org/2022/07/20/1112105425/kite-runner-broadway

[10] ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001jcjc

[11] ttps://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/theater/seattle-reps-selling-kabul-offers-a-humanizing-look-at-who-the-u-s-left-behind/

[12] ttps://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/sylvia-khoury

[13] ttps://newplayexchange.org/plays/4937/most-dangerous-highway-world

[14] ttps://theaterj.org/22-23-season/two-jews-walk-into-a-war/

[15] ttps://newplayexchange.org/plays/406/slow-falling-bird

[16] ttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt13186700/

[17] ttps://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2021-09-20/afghan-tragedy

[18] ttps://www.neh.gov/programinstitutefellowship/immigrant-experience-california-through-literature-and-history-0

[19] ttps://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/file/afghan_MIG.pdf

[20] ttps://wnba-sfchapter.org/participant/humaira-ghilzai/

[21] ttp://www.afghanfriends.net

[22] ttp://www.afghanfriends.net/the-khurasan-learning-center

[23] ttps://www.windofhopeafghanistan.net/sister-city

[24] ttps://www.gabrieljasondean.com/heartland

[25] ttps://www.osfashland.org/en/artist-biographies/artistic-staff/Evren-Odcikin.aspx

[26] ttps://www.seattleopera.org/on-stage/2023-a-thousand-splendid-suns/

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