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Berlinale Opens With Shahrbanoo Sadat’s ‘No Good Men

The selection underscores the festival’s pivot toward political, author-driven cinema over red-carpet spectacle.

Overview

  • The Afghan filmmaker, who fled Kabul in 2021 and now lives in Hamburg, presents a story centered on Afghan women and patriarchy with a blend of documentary immediacy and romantic‑comedy elements.
  • Security constraints kept the shoot out of Afghanistan, with Hamburg’s Wilhelmsburg and Rothenburgsort standing in for Kabul in a co‑production spanning Germany, France, Norway and Denmark.
  • Reporting spotlights constrained support for exiled filmmakers in Germany, citing fragmented funding, lengthy procedures and oversubscribed programs such as Nipkow and the Artist at Risk initiative.
  • Sadat describes initial pressure from the German job center to take language courses and seek salaried employment rather than continue freelance filmmaking.
  • Early critical responses praise the film’s urgency and perspective while noting uneven craft, performances and tonal consistency.