Osama | Director: Siddiq Barmak
Tuesday / Oct 14 / 4pm / VADM 110

Widowed by the killing of her husband and mourning the death of her son during the Afghan wars of the 1990s, a mother (Zubaida Shar) and her 12-year-old daughter (Marina Golbahari) have been trying to eek out a living for their family by working in a local hospital. But after the Taliban take power the new government imposes its fundamentalist restrictions on society. When Taliban zealots storm and shut down the hospital, their one source of income is extinguished. In desperation, the girl's mother and grandmother decide that the she must be disguised to look like a boy so she can work to help the family survive. Named "Osama" by a friend, she learns how to behave like a boy with the help of her friend and a few supportive adults. Still, passing herself off as a boy remains a difficult and very dangerous task, especially when, against their will, Osama and all the boys of her village are shipped away, forced to attend a fundamentalist religious school for indoctrination and military training. Siddiq Barmak's film is not only the first Afghani film made after the fall of the Taliban, but because of their restrictions on cultural expression, was the first film made in his country since 1996. 2003; 82 minutes.

Photo: Barmak Films (www.barmakfilm.com)