Review of Osama (2004) by Mike S — 13 Feb 2011

Siddiq Barmak's "Osama" is billed as the first entirely Afghan film shot in that country since the rise and fall of the Taliban. Inspired by a true story, it tells the story of a 12-year-old Afghan girl and her mother who lose their jobs after the Taliban closes the hospital where they work. To support the family and feeling desperate, the mother disguises her daughter as a boy to work at a local shop while hiding her true identity from the Taliban.

A Golden Globe Foreign Language Film winner, the human story that Barmak portrays onscreen is both harrowing and unforgettable. In today's world, it is hard to imagine a place where women are still being persecuted and where individual freedoms do not exist while the rest of the world sits back and does nothing. This is Barmak's call to the world about the human rights violations that existed in his country. Marina Golbahari performance as the young "Osama" gives immediacy to the subject matter and her cries for help remain loud and vexing long after one knows about her fate. Her only fault is to be born a girl into a world where there is nothing but cruelty around it.

Film art takes the creative process of committing the unimaginable on celluloid to entertain audiences worldwide. Barmak, on the other hand, uses that same medium to capture the unimaginable stories of his lifetime as a call for action, remembrance and a state of fact to these human rights issues.