Siddiq Barmak’s “Opium War” wins prestigious award

Opium War, a film by director Siddiq Barmak has won the Golden Marc’Aurelio Critics’ Award for Best Film at the Rome International Film Festival. The film and the director were also active participants in the Communicating with the Persian-Speaking World Conference at SOAS in June 2008 that inspired this website.  You can see a trailer below:

 

 

A synopsis of the film:

In a far mountainous place after Taliban regime in Afghanistan, two American soldiers - one white officer and the other an African-American soldier - are lost after their helicopter had crashed. The soldier waits for a chance to run away from the officer while the wounded officer coerces the soldier with a pistol to carry him around. The two are in discords but they need each other to survive in the hostile land. When they cross the poppy field, the two soothe the pain from the hurt, fatigue and dread from the war by licking the substance of the poppy capsules. They soon notice armored personal carriers (APC) with a white flag in the middle of the poppy field, a symbol of Taliban. With nothing much in their hands, they begin attacking the vehicles. But what they find inside in the APCs is an Afghan family living inside…

The director Siddiq Barmak was born in Afghanistan in 1962. He studied filmmaking in Moscow. He had written a few screenplays and had made a few short films before he shot in Afghanistan his first feature film Osama. He was the director of the Afghan Film organization from 1992 to 1996 and after the establishment of the new government he was once again chosen to manage it. All his works were banned during the time of the Taliban.