Shahrbanoo Sadat on making Afghanistan’s first romcom

Shahrbanoo Sadat wrote, directed and stars in No Good Men, a daring, genre-bending film about a budding love affair in a Kabul newsroom on the eve of the Taliban’s return to power and the west’s chaotic withdrawal. Her long shot landed the opening slot at the Berlin film festival, sending her down the red carpet in the footsteps of Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers.

Sadat says the picture grew out of years spent between Afghanistan and Europe: stranded on a writing retreat in Germany by the pandemic, witnessing the febrile last days of democracy and then being evacuated to Europe as Kabul fell. Those tumultuous years shaped a film that pays tribute to women and men who find joy and connection despite violence and repression.

She plays Naru, the only camerawoman at Kabul’s main TV station, separated from a cheating husband and fighting to keep custody of her three-year-old son.

Afghanistan, Kabul

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