Najiba Noori

“Sailing gives me the freedom and peace that I have not had in most of my life,” says Najiba, spoken as an understandably recent convert to the joys of being on the water after the trauma of her enforced exit from Afghanistan two years ago when Kabul fell to the Taliban. Najiba has not seen her family since, fleeing to Paris where she has continued her successful career as journalist and filmmaker, a role she will be filling also on Maiden. The pictures promise to be captivating as Najiba, 28, has honed her craft assiduously since first volunteering for a media organisation in Kabul when she was just 15. She joined AFP as a video journalist in 2019 and has worked on breaking news and feature stories and filed photo and video stories for the likes of the Huffington Post, MSF and UN Women in Afghanistan. Tracy Edwards was determined to put together a crew that was as diverse as possible and discovered Najiba via a press agency as the chances of actually finding a female Afghan sailor were remote. “We wanted to represent the women of Afghanistan to keep the memory of the appalling treatment of women in people’s minds,” said Edwards. It has proven to be an inspired arrangement with Najiba taking to the enormous challenge of sailing round the world while she also does her camerawoman ‘day- job.’ Najiba has close-up pictures as well as the bigger picture always in mind. “I want to tell the story of Maiden, of girls from different continents coming together to dream big, to believe in themselves and to develop their strength and determination. More importantly, we want to raise awareness about the importance of education and equal opportunities for girls and women.”