Afghan Women Fight for Autonomy in Powerful New Bread & Roses Trailer: 'We'd Sacrifice Our Lives' (Exclusive)

Three years after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, Apple is releasing a powerful documentary detailing the harrowing impact it has had on women.

The upcoming film Bread & Roses follows three women — Dr. Zahra Mohammadi, Sharifa Mowahedzada and Taranom Seyedi — "as they fight to recover their autonomy," according to an official synopsis.

In the film's trailer, exclusively shared with PEOPLE, the group of women are shown adjusting to their new reality following the Taliban’s seizing of Kabul in August 2021.

"After my engagement party, people were praying, normal life was in motion. Then suddenly, lightning struck," a woman narrates.

Emotional voiceovers in the trailer explain that the Taliban has restricted women's rights and they are no longer able to study or “go outside without a chaperone.” One woman, Dr. Mohammadi, is forced to leave her clinic because of the Taliban’s regime. 

"I’m recording this video so that if anything happens to me, you’ll know the Islamic Emirate is responsible," a woman says directly to the camera.

Throughout the trailer, flashes of violent protests fill the scene as women are shown protesting for their rights. They chant, "Work, bread, and education." There is also a behind-the-scenes look at how they organized and taught one another.

Towards the end, several women stand in a line while partially covering their faces with a hand that has “#StandWithWomenInAfghanistan" written on the palm.

"We’d sacrifice our lives for this country and its people,” a woman expresses.

The movie, directed by Sahra Mani, first premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival before it was acquired by the streaming giant. Jennifer Lawrence and Justine Ciarrocchi joined Mani on the project as producers, with Malala Yousafzai and Farhad Khosravi serving as executive producers.

The documentary's title is a nod to the political slogan that has been used throughout the women’s suffrage movement — inspired by James Oppenheim's poem of the same name.

"Several brilliant women participated in this film with the hope of raising their voice and sharing their stories with the world outside of Afghanistan," Mani tells PEOPLE. "They knew the risks of participating in a documentary, but their desire for education, work, and freedom was greater than the possible risks to their safety."

"They joined side by side with the hope that audiences around the world would hear their story and remember that an entire population of women who, despite changed circumstances in their country, still have dreams for themselves, their mothers, their sisters, daughters and all women living under the ironclad rule of the Taliban," the director adds.

The Taliban, which first emerged in the ‘90s, regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 shortly after the United States withdrew from the country following a 20-year war. The fundamentalist group entered the capital on Aug. 15, 2021, after the country’s then-President Ashraf Ghani fled in what he claimed was an attempt to avoid further violence.

When the Taliban was temporarily overthrown by the U.S. in 2001, the country made monumental gains in education and women’s rights. But when the Taliban returned, many predicted that "it would all be erased,” as told to PEOPLE in a 2021 interview.

At the time, officials stated that some women's sports will be banned, particularly cricket, as deputy head of the Taliban's cultural commission Ahmadullah Wasiq said it’s "not necessary" for women to play the sport because "they might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered." 

Since then, the Taliban has "banned all sports for women and girls" and "have actively intimidated and harassed those who once played, often scaring them from even practicing in private," according to the Associated Press.

Drastic changes have also been made to women’s education. Per AP, girls are no longer able to attend school above the sixth grade and they have been banned from public spaces such as parks, gyms and a majority of jobs.

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More recently, the Taliban was questioned by the United Nations over their treatment of women. While the country’s rulers were not invited to the council, as they are not recognized by the intergovernmental organization, they were represented by a previously appointed ambassador. When questioned, the representative stated that the Taliban said women have rights within Islamic law, according to Reuters.

Bread and Roses, which pulls the curtain back on life for women in Afghanistan, will premiere on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, 2024.