Documentary backdrop image for Little Universe (2025)

Documentary backdrop image for Little Universe (2025)

202530 minPGdocumentary

Little Universe

202530 minPGdocumentary

Amena Karimyan founded the astronomical group Kayhana in Afghanistan to inspire young girls to pursue their dreams of space exploration.

Genres

Director

Nele Dehnenkamp

Synopsis

Amena Karimyan founded the astronomical group Kayhana in Afghanistan to inspire young girls to pursue their dreams of space exploration.

People

Nele Dehnenkampdirector

Nele Dehnenkampwriter

Synopsis

Amena Karimyan founded Kayhana, an astronomical group in Afghanistan, to inspire young girls with her model of the planets. After the Taliban took control, she fled to Germany. Now, she faces challenges in building a new life while pursuing her dream of space travel. "Little Universe" depicts Amena's struggle against her past and the obstacles of bureaucracy as she seeks her place in the world.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

In the Room (2025)

In the Room

2025•1h16m•★10.0TMDB

Five Afghan women, including singer Mozhdah Jamalzadah and activist Nelofer Pazira-Fisk, share their stories of resistance and resilience amid the Taliban's resurgence.

Angels Are Made Of Light (2018)

Angels Are Made Of Light

2018•1h57m•★10.0TMDB

In Kabul, Afghanistan, students and teachers navigate their education amid ongoing challenges, reflecting their aspirations and struggles in a conflict-affected society.

Angels Are Made Of Light

Defying the Taliban: women at war in Afghanistan (2022)

Defying the Taliban: women at war in Afghanistan

One year after the Taliban's takeover, schools for girls are banned, and women like Brishna face threats of violence for advocating their rights.

Defying the Taliban: women at war in Afghanistan

Schools for Afghanistan - a project in peril (2018)

Schools for Afghanistan - a project in peril

More than 60% of people in Afghanistan are illiterate, as development aid workers struggle to maintain educational initiatives for girls amid rising threats.

Schools for Afghanistan - a project in peril

Nadia Nadim: The Woman Who Escaped the Taliban And Became A Star (2026)

Nadia Nadim: The Woman Who Escaped the Taliban And Became A Star

Nadia Nadim, an Afghan girl who fled to Denmark after the Taliban executed her father, has risen to prominence as an international football star.

Nadia Nadim: The Woman Who Escaped the Taliban And Became A Star

Afghanistan: The Olympic Dream l ARTE Documentary (2021)

Afghanistan: The Olympic Dream l ARTE Documentary

Masomah Alizada, a member of Afghanistan's women's cycling team, navigates the challenges of pursuing her sport in France after fleeing Taliban threats.

Afghanistan: The Olympic Dream l ARTE Documentary

Women Arise - Afghanistan (2010)

Women Arise - Afghanistan

Afghan women face ongoing challenges such as forced marriage and domestic violence, yet a courageous women's rights movement strives to change their oppressive reality.

Women Arise - Afghanistan

Portraits of Afghanistan Before the Fall (2021)

Portraits of Afghanistan Before the Fall

Two trillion dollars of U.S. taxpayer money funded the longest war in modern U.S. history, which ended with the Taliban regaining control of Afghanistan.

Portraits of Afghanistan Before the Fall

Meet the Women Fighting Against Rampant Misogyny in Afghanistan (2016)

Meet the Women Fighting Against Rampant Misogyny in Afghanistan

Sara, a 12-year-old girl in Herat, was about to be traded for a house, illustrating the ongoing issue of forced marriages in Afghanistan.

Meet the Women Fighting Against Rampant Misogyny in Afghanistan

Escaping The Taliban With My 5 Children: Anahita's Story (2024)

Escaping The Taliban With My 5 Children: Anahita's Story

Anahita, a former police officer in Kabul, recounts her perilous escape from Afghanistan with her five children amid the Taliban's rise to power.

Escaping The Taliban With My 5 Children: Anahita's Story

Explore Little Universe

Where else to watch

In the Room (2025)

In the Room

2025•1h16m•★10.0TMDB

Five Afghan women, including singer Mozhdah Jamalzadah and activist Nelofer Pazira-Fisk, share their stories of resistance and resilience amid the Taliban's resurgence.

No digital watch option in your country

Afghan Dreamers (2022)

Afghan Dreamers

2022•1h16m•★10.0TMDB

An all-girls’ robotics team in Afghanistan competes against global teams to prove that girls can pursue careers in science and engineering.

Afghan Dreamers

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) (2020)

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

2020•40m•★7.3TMDB

In Kabul, girls learn to read, write, and skateboard at Skateistan, a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 to support their education and empowerment.

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

Kamay (2024)

Kamay

2024•1h47m•★10.0TMDB

A Hazara family in central Afghanistan seeks justice for their daughter Zahra, who died under mysterious circumstances while attending Kabul University.

In Her Hands (2022)

In Her Hands

2022•1h33m•★5.9TMDB

Afghanistan's youngest female mayor fights for education amid the chaos following the withdrawal of Western forces from her country.

Browse more like this

Defying the Taliban: women at war in Afghanistan (2022)

Defying the Taliban: women at war in Afghanistan

One year after the Taliban's takeover, schools for girls are banned, and women like Brishna face threats of violence for advocating their rights.

Defying the Taliban: women at war in Afghanistan

No digital watch option in your country

Nadia Nadim: The Woman Who Escaped the Taliban And Became A Star (2026)

Nadia Nadim: The Woman Who Escaped the Taliban And Became A Star

Nadia Nadim, an Afghan girl who fled to Denmark after the Taliban executed her father, has risen to prominence as an international football star.

Nadia Nadim: The Woman Who Escaped the Taliban And Became A Star

No digital watch option in your country

Kabul Beauty (2024)

Kabul Beauty

2024•51m•★8.0TMDB

Twenty employees work seven days a week at a beauty salon in central Kabul, providing a rare space for women under Taliban rule.

Afghanistan Unveiled (2004)

Afghanistan Unveiled

2004•52m•★10.0TMDB

A team of women video journalists documents the severe restrictions on women's rights in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 under Taliban rule.

Afghanistan Unveiled

An Unfinished Journey (2024)

An Unfinished Journey

2024•1h15m•★8.0TMDB

Four Afghan women leaders work to establish an international movement to advocate for women's rights after the Taliban regained control in 2021.

An Unfinished Journey

Life Ahead of Her (2023)

Life Ahead of Her

2023•1h29m•★8.0TMDB

14-year-old Elaha uses a small camera to document her life as a refugee while fleeing conflict in Afghanistan.

Life Ahead of Her

Girl Unbound (2016)

Girl Unbound

2016•1h17m•★5.6TMDB

Death threats force Maria Toorpakai to flee Pakistan after she gains recognition in squash while disguising herself as a boy to escape Taliban oppression.

National Geographic : Search for the Afghan Girl (2003)

National Geographic : Search for the Afghan Girl

2003•53m•★5.5TMDB

After 17 years, a National Geographic team locates Sharbat Gula, the Afghan girl known for her striking green eyes, in Afghanistan.

National Geographic : Search for the Afghan Girl

Browse more by Nele Dehnenkamp

View all films →

We Will Survive (2018)

We Will Survive

2018

For the Time Being (2024)

For the Time Being

2024

Seahorse (2020)

Seahorse

2020

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →