Sonia Nassery Cole (; born 1965) is an Afghan-born American human rights activist, filmmaker, and author.

Early life

Sonia Nassery Cole was born in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Afghanistan, the daughter of an Afghan diplomat.. At fourteen, she fled Afghanistan amid the Soviet invasion of 1979 to seek refuge in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

without her family. At seventeen, she wrote a nine-page letter to President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

about the situation in her country and pleaded for help and sought to meet him.

Humanitarian work in Afghanistan

Cole founded the Afghanistan World Foundation in 2002 and began making films. She was instrumental in raising funds used for various necessities in her native country such as the construction of a hospital for women and children in

, medical care for landmine victims, and other causes. Cole focuses on efforts to improve the conditions for women and children in Afghanistan. Sonia also befriended singer

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...

while she was working with the Afghan World Foundation. She became a board member for the organization along

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

Prince Albert of Monaco Albert II (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, reigning since 2005. Born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Albert is the second child and only son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. He attend ...

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She was the recipient of Daytime Emmy, National Board of Review, and GLAAD Media Awards ...

and

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Film career

Cole has worked in film since 1994. In 2007, she directed the short film ''The Bread Winner''. In 2010, her film ''

The Black Tulip ''The Black Tulip'' is a historical novel and a work of Romantic poetry written by Alexandre Dumas, père, and first published in 1850. Story The story begins in 1672, with a historic event: the lynching of the Dutch Grand Pensionary Johan de ...

'' was selected as Afghanistan's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, be ...

. The film won "best picture" awards in

Boston Film Festival Boston Film Festival (BFF) is an annual film festival held in Boston in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It has been held annually since 1984, usually in early September. The Boston Film Festival premiered such notable films as '' The Last Kiss'' ...

Beverly Hills Film Festival The Beverly Hills Film Festival (BHFF) is a film festival in the United States founded in 2001 by independent filmmaker Nino Simone. The festival is an international competition dedicated to "showcasing the art and talent of emerging filmmakers ...

, and the Salento Film Festival. The film, which premiered at the Ariana Cinema Theater on September 23, 2010 and screened at the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

base as well as an American Embassy, was distributed by SnagFilms, and is about a family in Kabul opening a restaurant business after the fall of the Taliban regime. The film received press in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...

'',

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. Her film ''I Am You'' (2019) is an independent feature film based on the true story of three Afghan refugees.

Author

In 2013, she received the Freedom to Write Award from

PEN Center PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

USA. She has a book, ''Will I Live Tomorrow?'', released in October 2013.

Personal life

She currently resides in New York City and

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

and is now divorced from Christopher H. Cole, but retains his surname. She has one son. She is the recipient of a "Congressional Recognition" award on December 4, 2006, "Afghan American Sisterhood Award", and the "UN Women Together Award" on June 7, 2012. Cole is a member of the Jodi Solomon Speakers Bureau.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Sonia Nassery Living people People from Kabul Activists from New York City Mass media people from Beverly Hills, California Afghan film directors Afghan women film directors Afghan film actresses Afghan emigrants to the United States Afghan human rights activists Afghan socialites 20th-century Afghan actresses 21st-century Afghan actresses 1965 births