Afghan film scoops festival prize

Barmak's film is a story of a girl's life under the Taleban

The first film made in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taleban has won an award at the London Film Festival.

The film, Osama, picked up the Sutherland Trophy for the most original and imaginative movie at the event, which ended in the capital on Thursday.

It tells the story of a 12-year-old girl forced to disguise herself as a boy in order to survive.

The annual festival closed with a screening of Sylvia, a biopic of poet Sylvia Plath, starring Gwyneth Paltrow.

Osama previously picked up fringe awards at this year's Cannes film festival and the main prize at Montreal's New Movie and New Media Festival.

The film combines skilful storytelling with striking visuals and strong performances Sandra Hebron London Film Festival artistic director

It was directed by Siddiq Barmak, who fled his homeland for Pakistan in 1996 after the rise of the Taliban, but returned when they had been ousted.

London Film Festival artistic director Sandra Hebron said: "Osama is a timely and distinctive piece of film making, bringing a major new talent to the international film making community.

"The film combines skilful storytelling with striking visuals and strong performances throughout, to powerful and moving effect."

Little change

At Cannes, Barmak said he hoped the film would publicise the plight of Afghan women.

"There are some changes, but no big change on the whole," he said. "Some girls now go to school and work, but most women are poor and uneducated, many have to beg and most are still afraid of the Taleban."

The London festival's other winners included French film Le Monde Vivant (The Living World), a low-budget fantasy about knights who fought an ogre, which won the international critics' award.

Danish film Someone Like Hodder won the prize for Satyajit Ray Award for first time director while The Most Beautiful Man In The World picked up the short film award.