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The Orphanage (2019 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Orphanage' is a 2019 Danish-Afghan drama film directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It is the second installment in a planned pentalogy based on the unpublished diaries of Anwar Hashimi, who plays a supporting character in the film. Its prequel, 'Wolf and Sheep', came out in 2016.
Plot
The film follows the 15-year-old Qodrat (Qodratollah Qadiri), who at the beginning of the movie lives on the streets of 1989 Kabul and gets by on scalping cinema tickets and peddling key rings. After being picked up from the streets he is sent to the Soviet operated juvenile detention center known as "the orphanage". Here he is one of five new arrivals, along with 14-year-old Masihullah (Masihullah Feraji) and his 16-year-old nephew Fayez (Ahmad Fayaz Osmani) who are given regular meals, living quarters, a primary education. The audience is introduced to the inner life of the stony faced Qodrat in Bollywood-style dream sequences in which he is free to express his feelings for a girl in class or one of his close pals. Dorm-room power scuffles ensue, sometimes broken up by the director Anwar (Anwar Hashimi), who takes on a father-like role. Some of the boys are taken on an excursion to Moscow where they get to compete in chess with their fellow young comrades. This life is again upturned when teachers struggle to toe the line of the Mujahideen after the Soviets withdraw from Afghanistan.
Cast
2020
*Hasibullah Rasooli
*Masihullah Feraji
*Qodratollah Qadiri
*Sediqa Rasuli
*Anwar Hashimi
*Ehasanulla Kharoty
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . Jay Weissberg of 'Variety' magazine called 'The Orphanage' a "clumsy Bollywood re-creation" that "add[s] significant flavor". Peter Bradshaw of 'The Guardian', called the film "energetic and captivating drama".
References
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