Search for the Afghan Girl

The search for the mysterious "Afghan Girl," whose haunting, green-eyed gaze captivated the world in a NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine cover photograph, takes EXPLORER on a world-wide journey in an attempt to solve the case of a missing person. In January 2002, photographer Steve McCurry, who took the 1984 photograph and has been searching for the girl ever since, traveled to Pakistan with a National Geographic EXPLORER team to search one last time. The refugee camp where the original encounter took place was about to be demolished. War in Afghanistan continues. The plight of refugees there and in Pakistan is worsening. Has the "Afghan Girl" survived? With a lot of detective work and a little luck, the EXPLORER team, together with McCurry, finds a woman who could be the "Afghan Girl." How can they confirm that this is the same person as the child photographed nearly 20 years ago? National Geographic uses several methods, including state of the art iris recognition, the FBI facial recognition techniques and the technology used by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Sigourney Weaver narrates.

Learning Questions

1. Where does photographer Steve McCurry begin his search to find the “Afghan girl”?
2. Who are the “elders” in the refugee community and what is their role?
3. What does Steve McCurry say he looks for in people’s faces?
4. What is the meaning of “Afghan girl’s” real name?
5.What does the Afghan woman ask from America when Steve McCurry finds her?
6. What did you like about this film?

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