The film entitled “Osama” by Director Siddiq Barmak was the first film to be made in Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001. The film very effectively depicts the horror of Taliban rule and its cruelty to women and girls. I watched this film on DVD when it was originally released and I thought it was worth revisiting considering everything that is happening now.
The story centers on a girl and her mother who is a doctor. The mother cannot work. Her husband and other male relatives are dead. She cannot leave the house without a male relative and must cover herself entirely in a burqa.
The child’s grandmother gets the decision to cut the girl’s hair and to disguise her as a boy so she can go work and earn money for the family to survive. Things go badly when a Taliban soldier spots the child and makes her go to a school for boys (as he thinks the child is a boy).
Things go bad for the child and her fate is tragic. Watching this film again with what is happening now leaves one entirely uncertain about what should be done about Afghanistan. After twenty years, the Taliban are back.