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Anti-Taliban movie is first Afghan feature film since fall of Islamic regime
A new film with the eye-catching title Osama stars an illiterate 12-year-old found begging in the streets of Kabul, who plays a girl who poses as a boy so she can work. Itâs the time of the Taliban; the men in her family are dead, and women cannot leave home unless accompanied by male relatives. The movie is the first feature film made by an Afghan since the ouster of the hard-line Islamic regime two years ago. It was honoured this year at several international film festivals, including Cannes, and is being considered for an Oscar nomination for best foreign-language film. Soon after Kabul was liberated, Afghan director Siddiq Barmak, 41, returned from Pakistan where he was a refugee, determined to make a film about the abuses his countrymen suffered under the Taliban and its ally, Osama bin Laden. Wandering through the ruined capital, he found Marina, a street child begging for food. Speaking in Dari, he asked her if anyone in her family had died during Afghanistanâs 23 years of war. "I said two of my sisters were killed when a wall in a building fell on them, and I began to cry," Marina recalled in an interview. "They hired me to play the main character in the movie, even though I couldnât read and write." She has used the money she made from Osama and its awards to buy her parents a four-bedroom mud home in a poor part of Kabul. She studies at a school run by Aschiana, an Afghan relief agency for children. Marina, whose beautiful smile is never seen on film, giggles, blushes and bows her head in embarrassment while talking to foreigners, even though she is now 15 and Barmak took her to a film festival in South Korea earlier this year. Ariff Herati, 14, who stars as Marinaâs friend in Osama, was found by Barmak in a refugee camp. He has been less lucky. He didnât save his earnings from the movie and still lives in a windowless mud hut in the camp. These days, Ariffâs only reliable source of income is a temporary job at a nearby brick kiln. He also owns a horse he rents out to other children to ride in a nearby park. "Thanks to the coalition, life is getting better in Kabul," he said, sitting atop his horse. "If my wish comes true, I will be a hero in another movie." Barmak said heâs optimistic about Afghanistanâs future. He begins his movie with a quote from Nelson Mandela: "I canât forget, but I will forgive." Still, heâs not sure he understands what led to Taliban rule. "Iâm a Muslim. Iâm not against Muslim traditions," he said. "But why do people sometimes fall for the lying of some leaders in the name of religion?" Thereâs hope in Afghanistan, by Afghans.That is so important, and itâs there.I know the media tries to make it sound so hopeless, but obviously many Afghans donât agree with their assessment. Posted by: TS 2003-12-05 |
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