OSAMA Beyond Conflict: Focus on the Middle East

Based on the true story of a young girl living under the rule of the Taliban, this Afghani film met with standing ovations and a Special Jury Award at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

In a society where women are forbidden to show their faces in public, a 12-year-old girl disguises herself as a boy to find work and provide for her mother and grandmother, both war widows. She finds a job in a shop run by a man who fought in the war alongside her father. Almost instantly, the Taliban herd her into their youth military training, where a beggar boy gives her the name Osama to protect her from the other boys’ taunts. The danger she faces, however, is far greater than childish ridicule. If discovered, her impersonation of a male could be punishable by death by stoning.

Debut writer/director Siddiq Barmak has created a profound film embodying both the modern and mythic. A dramatic beacon of light illuminating another world, OSAMA underscores cinema’s ability to create greater understanding and harmony between all people on earth.