The year is 2021, Afghanistan, on the verge of the Taliban's return to power. Naru, the sole camerawoman for Kabul's main television station, is struggling to gain custody of her three-year-old son after leaving her chronically unfaithful husband. Convinced that there are no good men in her country, she is surprised when Qodrat, the most prominent journalist on Kabul TV, offers her a job. As they drive through the city together, reporting on its last days of freedom, a spark flies between them, and Naru begins to question her beliefs: is it possible that a good man exists after all?
No Good Men, directed by and starring Shahrbanoo Sadat (Wolf and Sheep, SFF 2017), is set in Kabul just before the Taliban return to power in 2021. In this period of great political uncertainty and danger, Naru, the only camerawoman at Kabul’s main television station, is faced with a personal crisis. After leaving her unfaithful and abusive husband, she struggles to gain custody of her young son at all costs. Add to this the sexism she faces at work, and it’s no wonder she believes there are “no good men” in Afghanistan. When she’s sent to cover a serious news story instead of the “feminine content” she’s usually assigned, she teams up with Qodrat (Anwar Hashimi), a top journalist at Kabul TV. Although their initial encounters are reserved and cautious, they soon discover something attractive in each other. The backdrop to their relationship, however, is far from romantic — the Taliban are closing in, and it seems like the window of freedom for journalists, women, and civil society as a whole is about to close dramatically. The director does a great job of playing with the conventions of romantic comedy while capturing the terror of a society on the brink of chaos. The result is a film that is as bold as it is compelling.
Comedy Romantic
Germany / Denmark / France / Norway / Afghanistan 2026 103 min
Directed by: Shahrbanoo Sadat
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