Nelofer Pazira is a journalist and filmmaker based in Toronto. Nelofer starred in the internationally acclaimed film by Mohsen Makhmalbaf 'Kandahar' (2001), and 'Return to Kahdahar'(2003). She currently works for CBC’s nightly newscast, The National. She has also recently set up a charity — Dyana Afghan Women’s Fund — to provide education and skills training for women in the city of Kandahar.

A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of my Afghanistan (2005)
Nelofer Pazira was born into a privileged family living in Kabul. When she was six, the Russians invaded Afghanistan and her childhood ended. Her father, a respected doctor, was imprisoned along with family and friends. Their country became a police state and the centre of a bloody conflict between the Soviet army and the American-backed guerillas.

Amid the blood and fear of war, Nelofer's refuge from violence and anger was her friendship with Dyana. Together they shared their lives, their passion for poetry and the dangers of underground resistance.

After a decade of war, Nelofer''s family escaped across the mountains to Pakistan and from there to Canada, where she continued her friendship with Dyana through letters. When her friend suddenly stopped writing, Nelofer felt bereft. Her return to Afghanistan under the Taliban and her desperate search for Dyana became the story of the internationally acclaimed film Kandahar. Her journey to discover Dyana''s tragedy led her finally to Russia, to the country that destroyed her life, where she found a nation imprisoned by its own history.

Nuanced, affecting and stunningly written, A Bed of Red Flowers is a gripping portrait of ordinary life under occupation and an illuminating window onto the devastation of a country and the resilience of its people.

Rights Sold
US - Free Press; Canada - Random House; Netherlands - Uitgeverij Arena.

"Written movingly, honestly and lyrically, 'A Bed of Red Flowers' is the story of Afghanistan itself."
- Khaled Hosseini, author of 'The Kite Runner'.