“Rule Breakers” will bring Afghanistan’s first-ever female robotics team to the big screen on March 7

The daring story of Afghanistan’s first all-girl robotics team is coming to a cinema near you.

Rule breakers is based on the true story of The Afghan Girls Robotics Team, who grabbed the world’s attention when they were denied membership visas from the United States in 2017 while trying to compete in the First Global Challenge international robotics competition. Fifty-three members of Congress signed a petition and President Donald Trump stepped in to give the girls special humanitarian travel documents, allowing them to enter the U.S. and compete in the robotics games, according to New York Times profile.

The story of the team’s struggle to compete in the robotics competition runs much deeper than their attempts to enter the US. First Global founder Dean Kamen, who is best known for designing the Segway, put together his competitive robotics league as a way to spark an interest in science and technology among high school students. He invited and attracted an Afghan technology entrepreneur and Digital Citizen Fund (DCF) founder Roya Mahbub to assemble an all-girl robotics team for the competition, called the Afghan Dreamers. A dozen girls made the cut, forming the first team, and worked on their robotic creation in Mahboob’s parents’ basement, using whatever tools they could find, along with parts donated by Kamen, according to times.

The film tells the story of the team’s deep and dangerous struggle to compete and pursue their passions. The return of the Taliban to power in 2021. reversed years of gender equality and freedom struggles by banning women from being educated in science and technology, forcing some of the team to flee their country for their own safety and the right to pursue their future on their terms. Said team member Sadaf Hamidi, who fled to Qatar in 2021 NBC News last year that one of her sisters had to give up her dream of going to medical school, saying “It’s heartbreaking for me and for them.”

Rule breakers is directed by two-time Oscar winner Bill Guttentag and stars Nicole Bouchery as Mahbub and of Fleabag Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The film hits theaters on March 7, 2025.