The Breadwinner (2017)

Director: Nora Twomey

In 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.

We don’t always realize how much we have to be thankful for until we watch a movie like ‘The Breadwinner’. The film is set in 2001 in Afghanistan, where women have very little rights and almost everything is forbidden.

Our protagonist is an 11-year-old girl named Parvana, who – together with her father – sells personal items at the market in order to buy food. They are poor, and the family consists of the mother, father, Parvana, her elder sister Soraya, and baby brother Zaki. When her father is arrested for a petty crime (insulting another man), the family is devastated.

When her mother is badly beaten by a man when she tries to go to prison to beg for her husband’s freedom, Parvana takes it upon herself to care for the family. But young girls are not allowed on the streets unaccompanied by either their father or elder brother. Now disguised as a boy, Parvana goes to the market to buy food. Comfortable and confident in her disguise, she sets out to save her father, while her mother plans to marry off Soraya to her cousin so they can flee.

Parvana loves telling stories to Zaki, and the viewer ends up following two stories – Parvana’s and the story she is telling, which in itself is an interesting story I enjoyed.

‘The Breadwinner’ might be animated but this movie is definitely more for a mature audience. Younger kids might not fully understand the events of the film, and it is also dramatic and sad, and might not entertain kids. I absolutely loved the film and found it thought-provoking, and beautiful.

‘The Breadwinner’ received 79 award nominations (including the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film), winning 24 including Best Feature Film, Best Original Music, Best Sound Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Animated Film.

Would I watch it again? Yes.