Barmak’s Opium War: Readied for Cannes

I’ll be offering my early bird predictions for the films slated for the upcoming 08′ edition of the Cannes film festival shortly, but here is a sure bet for one film that is well positioned to make a trip to the croisette.

Circa 2003, the Director’s Fortnight saw a stunning portrait from Afghan director Siddiq Barmak. Osama would claim three prizes at the fest, collect a Golden Globe win, it was especially well received by critics and elicited this response from me “…Barmak’s unflinching docu-drama depiction of the frightening Taliban terror is a
traumatizing watch-but a necessary one. Filmed with the country’s only 35mm
camera at a total cost of the price of used Volvo…“.

Listed as a project currently in post-prod, Barmak’s  Opium War tells the story of a U.S. chopper that crashes in an Afghan desert, leaving a white officer and a black soldier encounter a local family living in deserted Russian tanks. 

Here is the first look at the production poster one sheet.