# Project Description Jaan (2025) Lena Mohammed Summary Final work College London College of Communication Course MA Documentary Film Graduation year 2025 In “ Jaan ” , the filmmaker uses her mother’s forbidden cassettes and dance to tell the stories and show the spirit of Afghan women across generations. Having grown up far from her birthplace, Lena is drawn back to the intimate VHS and Hi8 cassettes her mother recorded — tapes of Afghan women dancing, celebrating, and expressing joy even amidst war. As she revisits these archives and begins creating her own spoken word poetry and movement, she starts to bridge the gap between her diasporic present and the cultural inheritance she longs to reclaim. Shot with a blend of stylised dance sequences and poetic, reflective imagery, the film immerses viewers in Lena’s internal world. Ambient soundscapes, personal voiceover, and the tactility of analogue footage create a sensory portrait of identity in motion. Through her connection with her Afghan dance teacher, Aruzu, Lena finds a contemporary echo of the women captured on her mother’s tapes — a living link between past and present. Intimate, lyrical, and emotionally resonant, " Jaan" is both a universal meditation on belonging and a unique exploration of how memory, movement, and art become vessels for cultural survival. It is a film about reclaiming body, soul, and life — and offering them back to the women, the homeland, and the heritage that shaped her. Final work Jaan | Trailer Through my mother’s tapes, my Afghan dance teacher, and my own journey, “Jaan” explores what it means to be an Afghan woman across generations. View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery Research and process If You Silence Us We Will Dance In Your Silence An Afghan dance project created in collaboration with my dance teacher, who is also a contributor in my documentary. The project explores traditional and contemporary Afghan movement, using dance as a way to reconnect with cultural memory, identity, and community. View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery Share this project In “Jaan”, the filmmaker uses her mother’s forbidden cassettes and dance to tell the stories and show the spirit of Afghan women across generations. Having grown up far from her birthplace, Lena is drawn back to the intimate VHS and Hi8 casse... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard