Behind the Scenes of Rule Breakers

Growing up, Amber Afzali, C’23, often tried to hide her Afghan heritage. When asked where she was from, she would say, “America,” where she was born. If pushed, she would say her mother was from Germany, and if pushed further, she would say that she was Persian, although both her parents were Afghan immigrants. “Post-911, there was definitely a stigma about having a heritage from Afghanistan,” Afzali says. “For a long time, I didn’t really embrace my culture.”

Now, Afzali is taking the opposite tack, starring in a new movie called Rule Breakers, which showcases Afghan culture and community through the story of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, also known as the Afghan Dreamers.

Born in Las Vegas, Afzali moved to Southern California at age eight, where her parents enrolled her in acting classes to help her overcome her shyness. In fifth grade, she did a book report on Afghanistan; she wore traditional clothing, talking about the country’s national customs, sports, and food, and even enlisted her parents to help.

“I was able to educate people about Afghanistan and proudly showcase my heritage,” Afzali says. “From then on, I really wanted to make sure that I was being an advocate for the Afghan community, highlighting how beautiful our culture is. We have some incredible people who come out of Afghanistan when they’re given the chance to be educated, when they’re given the chance to learn, and when they’re given the chance to grow.”

At Penn, Afzali studied psychology and political science with a concentration in international relations. “It just became a natural fit to go into political science,” she says. “I knew that I wanted to focus on the relationship that the U.S. had with my region: Afghanistan, the Near East, and South Asia.”

I was thrilled that this project was even being made, regardless of whether I would be a part of it or not. It meant that Afghan voices and Afghan stories were making their way to Hollywood, and not in a movie about war, but rather about women from the region and their resiliency and their strength.

Then there’s psychology, which Afzali says pairs well with acting. “It goes hand in hand because [we] learned a lot about people’s motivations, their intentions, the different struggles people have given their backgrounds, but also a lot about the world and trauma and how to help societies who have endured a lot, like members of the Afghan community,” Afzali says.

During the pandemic, she realized she was missing a creative outlet. She sought out in-person acting classes when they became available, and soon signed with a manager, who pointed her to auditions for an upcoming movie. That film of course became Rule Breakers, which, as it happens, is directed by fellow Penn alum Bill Guttentag, C’79. “I was thrilled that this project was even being made, regardless of whether I would be a part of it or not,” Afzali says. “It meant that Afghan voices and Afghan stories were making their way to Hollywood, and not in a movie about war, but rather about women from the region and their resiliency and their strength.”

In the film, Afzali plays Esin, one of four young women selected to compete in the first all-girls robotics team from Afghanistan, started by Roya Mahboob, a businesswoman and tech expert who founded a nonprofit organization to improve technological and financial literacy among Afghan women. Together, the robotics team fights against cultural expectations for women, U.S. visa limitations, and international mailing snafus to assemble its robot and compete.

To get in character, Afzali worked with a dialect coach and watched a documentary and TED talks with the real-life Afghan Dreamers, as well as many robotics competitions, “to understand the energy and hype of it all,” she says. She also met Roya Mahboob, who served as one of the film’s producers, and Elaha Mahboob, her sister, one of the film’s co-writers.

Afzali says it was important to her to honor the real-life story the movie was based on, with women who found a voice and a vocation through education. It’s a notion she relates to in her own life, like in her favorite scene, which takes place during the final competition in New Mexico. In a high-pressure moment, her character, Esin, overcomes her own shyness and hesitation to speak to the audience and judges (one of whom is played by the actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag and Indiana Jones fame).

The scene “shows how impactful a woman’s voice can be,” Afzali says. “Through the community of women supporting women, Esin is able to garner the courage and speak about the [robotic] creation the team made.”

This resonated with Afzali on a personal level as well, she says. “Growing up, I struggled to get to the point where I could use my voice for good and use it for a public platform, to go out there and speak for myself and for others.” To have Phoebe Waller-Bridge applaud after her speech was the icing on the cake, Afzali says. “You don’t have that every day.”

Afzali continues to act and is taking classes in singing, Arabic, and martial arts while she works as a legal assistant for Inland Counties Legal Services, a nonprofit that provides assistance to low-income residents in California’s Riverside and San Bernardino counties.  She works on the housing team, where she puts to use her political science and psychology background, as well as her language skills in Persian, Dari, and Spanish.

“A lot of the clients we see are going through tough times,” she says. “It’s great to be able to use my background to understand that and to understand what certain policies mean for certain clients, how that will affect their housing. People are going through different situations and there’s not one monolithic reason [behind their struggles].” The work, she adds, keeps her grounded.

Afzali says she plans to continue acting, both to impact people in a positive way through cinema and to show them a side of the Afghan community they may not have seen. “There’s nothing wrong with a feel-good film,” she says, “especially if it can inspire others and change perceptions.”