Cannes 2023
Bread and Roses, co-produced by Lawrence, documents the lives of three women following the Taliban’s return to power
Sun 21 May 2023 11:57pm BST
A documentary about the lives of three women under the Taliban, co-produced by Jennifer Lawrence, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Bread and Roses,” which will have a special screening on Sunday, follows three Afghan women in the weeks following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US troops.
The documentary was made by Excellent Cadaver, a production company founded by Lawrence and her producer friend Justine Ciarrocchi.
“Jen’s first reaction was to find an Afghan filmmaker and give him a platform,” Ciarrocchi told the Hollywood Reporter.
Directed by Sahra Mani, whose 2018 documentary A Thousand Girls Like Me explored a sexually abused woman’s quest for justice, the film sought to show how women’s lives changed overnight under Taliban rule.
“This film has a message from women in Afghanistan, a gentle message: please be their voice, which has no voice under the Taliban dictatorship,” Mani said at the premiere.
She added, “Now that women can’t leave the house without a veil, I thought we should tell their stories.”
Although the women featured did not know each other, they all come from different groups that were protesting the Taliban coup.
In an interview on the Cannes website, Mani, who now lives in France, said filming the documentary was difficult and the safety of those involved was a top priority.
“The way their lives have changed under the Taliban is an everyday reality for us,” she added. “It’s life under a dictatorship, a cruel reality that we cannot ignore.”
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