Posted: 01/17/2004

Osama

(2003)

by Hank Yuloff

Not the one you’re thinking of; this is a very touching story about a young Afghani girl.

The release of this movie, Osama, in the U.S. should surely attract attention in these post 09/11 years. I’m not sure that was director/editor/screenwriter Siddiq Barmak’s intention, but if it does attract more viewers than a small, independent film normally wood, than the naming choice would be excellent.

Osama is the story of a 12-year-old Afghan girl and her mother who lose their jobs when the Taliban closes the hospital where they work. The Taliban has also forbidden women to leave their homes without a legal companion. With her husband and brother dead, there is no one left to support the family, and without being able to leave home for food or work, the mother is left with nowhere to turn. Feeling she has no other choice, she disguises her daughter as a boy. Now called Osama, the girl embarks on a terrifying and confusing journey to survive as she tries to keep the Taliban from finding out her true identity.

Inspired by a true story, Osama is the first feature film to be made in Afghanistan in the post-Taliban era. The film also marks Siddiq Barmak’s feature directorial debut (he wrote, produced and edited the film as well). Shot in Kabul last year, Osama examines the lives of the Afghan people while under the Taliban’s control, but the film also highlights lingering problems that exist even though the Taliban rule has ended. The actors in the film, all amateurs, are people from the city of Kabul.

More than a year was spent in producing Osama. The project started in June of 2002 and was completed in March of 2003 in a suburb of Kabul after the collapse of the Taliban regime.

Over the last 100 years, due to economic and cultural restraints, Afghanistan has produced less than 40 short and feature length film works (an unbelievable statistic of only one film per 2.5 years). In contract, Afghanistan’s fruitful filmmaking neighbor, India, produces an astonishing 3 films per day.

By US or European film standards, Osama is not a work of technical wizardry. The metaphors are far more eclectic (a stream of high pressure water being used instead of bullets and blood as the Taliban disrupt a protest march), and production values are not incredible. Still, Osama is a very moving piece of storytelling that gives us a glimpse into a world where we have far too many Americans involved.

Hank Yuloff is an expert at where to make out at Disneyland out of the sight of prying security cameras.

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