LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU'RE A GIRL).

• Author: Boehm, Eric

In America, skateboarding can be a punky act of youthful rebellion, or at least a way to get away from your overbearing parents for a bit. In Afghanistan, it's all that and much more.

Learning To Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) is the newly crowned Oscar-winning documentary short about female students at Skateistan, a school in Kabul that teaches Afghan kids reading, writing, arithmetic, and ripping. Started by Oliver Percovich, an Australian, in 2007 and supported by donations, the school's ongoing success and recognition makes a strong argument for the merits of cultural exchange in transforming a repressive society.

The girls in particular are pushing boundaries. Most women in Afghanistan have no formal education and few have hobbies like...