''Opium War'' ( fa, جنگ تریاک) is a 2008 Afghan

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...

directed by Golden Globe winner,

Siddiq Barmak Siddiq Barmak ( fa, صدیق برمک, born September 7, 1962) is an Afghan film director and producer. In 2004, Barmak won Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes for his first feature film, '' Osama''. He received an M.A. degree in cine ...

. The film was shot entirely in Afghanistan and revolves around the experiences of two American soldiers ( Peter Bussian and

Joe Suba Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

), who crash their helicopter in the Afghan desert and find themselves at the mercy of the natural elements and an eclectic family of Afghan opium farmers. In order to create a realistic setting of an

opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamen ...

field, Barmak had to obtain permission from the Afghan government to plant the cropBaker, Aryn
Afghanistan's Great Film Hope
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', February 17, 2009. Accessed April 28, 2010. because growing opium poppies was declared illegal in Afghanistan in 2002. Several challenges were faced by the filmmakers, with regards to the poppy field, before filming was completed. Most notably, Afghan poppy eradication teams attempted to destroy his film set twice and the lack of rain forced Barmak to drill a well for irrigation as well as to bring in water tankers from as far away as 30 km. The film was Afghanistan's official submission to the 2009 Academy Awards. ''Opium War'' was screened at several international film festivals, including the 2008 edition of

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

, where it won the Golden Marc’Aurelio Critics’ Award for Best Film.The International Rome Film Festival Official Awards - 2008
La Fondazione Cinema per Roma. Accessed April 28, 2010.

References

External links

* 2008 films Dari-language films Films shot in Afghanistan Films set in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) films 2008 black comedy films Afghan comedy films Films about opium 2000s English-language films {{2000s-comedy-film-stub