Osama (film)
Encyclopedia
Osama is a 2003 film
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...

 made in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 by Siddiq Barmak
Siddiq Barmak
Siddiq Barmak in Panjshir, Afghanistan, is a film director and producer. He received an M.A degree in cinema direction from the Moscow Film Institute in 1987.He has written a few screenplays and has made a few short films...

. It is about a girl living in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime who disguises herself as a boy, Osama, to support her family. It was the first film to be shot entirely in Afghanistan since 1996, when the Taliban régime banned the creation of all films. The film was an international co-production
International co-production
An international co-production is a production where two or more different production companies are working together, for example in a film production...

 between companies in Afghanistan, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

.

Although the title of the film highlights an allegorical relevance to Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...

, there is no further similarity.

Plot

A 12-year-old Afghan girl (Marina Golbahari
Marina Golbahari
Marina Golbahari is an Afghan actress who earned international fame for her role as the title character in the 2003 film Osama, playing a girl who had to dress and act as a boy to support her family during the Taliban years.She was cast as Osama by the Afghan film director Siddiq Barmak...

) and her mother (Zubaida Sahar) lose their jobs when the Taliban close the hospital where they work. The Taliban have also forbidden women to leave their houses without a male "legal companion." With her husband and uncle dead, having been killed in battle during the Soviet invasion and their civil wars, there are no men left to support the family. Unable to leave the house without fear of arrest and torture, the mother is left with nowhere to turn. With no other choice and inspired by a story her mother tells about a boy who went under a rainbow and became a girl, she disguises her daughter as a boy named 'Osama'. Osama manages to secure a job at the local chai shop, but his effeminate ways quickly arouse suspicion among the other boys.
Eventually, in a drive to collect soldiers, the local boys, including Osama, are taken from their homes and work by the Taliban to be trained as soldiers. At the training school, they are taught how to fight and conduct ablutions, and Osama realizes it can only be so long before she is found out. Several of the boys begin to pick on her, and eventually her secret is discovered when she menstruates. She is arrested and put on trial but, as this case is without precedent, her life is spared when she is given in marriage to a much older man (Khwaja Nader) who delivered a videotape filmed by a Western journalist who is also being tried. The new husband already has three wives, all of whom hate him and say that he destroyed their lives. They take pity on Osama, but they are powerless to help her. The husband shows Osama the padlocks he uses on his wives and reserves the largest for her. The film ends with the new husband conducting an ablution
Ghusl
Ghusl is an Arabic term referring to the full ablution required in Islam for various rituals and prayers. The ablution becomes mandatory for any adult Muslim after having sexual intercourse, any sexual discharge , completion of the menstrual cycle, giving birth, and death by natural causes.Islam...

 in an outdoor bath, presumably either just before or immediately after consummating his marriage to Osama.

Cast

  • Marina Golbahari
    Marina Golbahari
    Marina Golbahari is an Afghan actress who earned international fame for her role as the title character in the 2003 film Osama, playing a girl who had to dress and act as a boy to support her family during the Taliban years.She was cast as Osama by the Afghan film director Siddiq Barmak...

     - Osama
  • Arif Herati - Espandi
  • Zubaida Sahar - Mom
  • Gol Rahman Ghorbandi
  • Mohamad Haref Harat
  • Mohamad Nader Khadjeh
  • Khwaja Nader
  • Hamida Refah

Production

The director has said that Osama was at least partially inspired by a girl he once met, who disguised herself as a boy to attend school. It has also been said that this film might have been at least partially inspired by a newspaper report in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

The film was shot on location in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

, Afghanistan. Work began in June 2002 and was completed in March 2003 with a budget of approximately $46,000 US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

. All the actors in the film are amateurs found by the director on the streets of Kabul.

According to Marina, a documentary about actress Marina Golbahari
Marina Golbahari
Marina Golbahari is an Afghan actress who earned international fame for her role as the title character in the 2003 film Osama, playing a girl who had to dress and act as a boy to support her family during the Taliban years.She was cast as Osama by the Afghan film director Siddiq Barmak...

 shot concurrently with the film. Osama was originally titled Rainbow and ended on a hopeful note, with Osama passing under a rainbow and gaining her freedom. As time went on, the director grew dissatisfied with the ending and changed it and cut out other scenes in the film that expressed hope.

Responses

Osama was very well-received by the Western cinematic world. It gathered a rating of 96% based on 100 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

, a website which tabulates the reviews from professional film critics into a single rating.

Awards and nominations

Bratislava International Film Festival (2003)
  • Awarded "Special Mention"
  • Nominated "Grand Prix for F1"


Cannes Film Festival (2003)
  • Awarded "AFCAE Award"
  • Awarded "Cannes Junior Award"
  • Awarded "Golden Camera - Special Mention"


Cinemanila International Film Festival (2004)
  • Awarded "Best Actress" - Marina Golbahari, tied with Katherine Luna for Babae sa Breakwater
  • Nominated "Lino Brocka Award"


Golden Globes, USA (2004)
  • Awarded "Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film" - Afghanistan


Golden Satellite Awards (2004)
  • Nominated "Golden Satellite Award Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language" - Afghanistan/Iran


Golden Trailer Awards (2004)
  • Won "Golden Trailer Best Foreign"


Kerala International Film Festival (2003)
  • Won "Audience Award"


London Film Festival (2004)
  • Won Sutherland Trophy


Molodist International Film Festival (2003)
  • Won "Best Film Award Best Full-Length Fiction Film"
  • Won "Best Young Actor Award" - Marina Golbahari


Busan International Film Festival (2003)
  • Won "New Currents Award" - Special Mention
  • Won "PSB Audience Award", tied with Seontaek


Valladolid International Film Festival (2003)
  • Won "Golden Spike," tied with Talaye Sorkh


Young Artist Awards (2004)
  • Nominated "Young Artist Award Best International Feature Film"
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