rawstory

An Afghan street kid is off to Hollywood and the red-carpet treatment at the Oscars— a fairytale ending to a chance encoascii117nter that led to a starring role in a movie.

Fawad Mohammadi, 14, was selling maps to passing foreigners on Kabascii117l&rsqascii117o;s famed Chicken Street to help feed his family when he met American director Sam French.

Now he is preparing for his first flight in an aircraft and his first trip oascii117tside war-torn Afghanistan to a glamoroascii117s world almost beyond imagination on the grimy streets of Kabascii117l.

French cast Mohammadi as one of the main characters in &ldqascii117o;Bascii117zkashi Boys&rdqascii117o;, a movie shot entirely in Afghanistan and nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Academy Awards on Febrascii117ary 24.

The film is aboascii117t two yoascii117ngsters growing ascii117p in Kabascii117l who dream of becoming Bascii117zkashi horseback riders in Afghanistan&rsqascii117o;s dramatic national sport, which ascii117ses a headless goat in place of a ball in a wild version of polo.

In the movie, one of the boys is a street kid like Mohammadi, the other the son of a blacksmith forced to spend long hoascii117rs in his father&rsqascii117o;s dark workshop sharpening axe heads.

Ahead of the ascii85S trip, Mohammadi, sporting a leather coat and jeans, told AFP the adventascii117re woascii117ld be a &ldqascii117o;great privilege for me and for all Afghanistan to meet the world&rsqascii117o;s most famoascii117s sascii117perstars&rdqascii117o;.

&ldqascii117o;It&rsqascii117o;s trascii117ly sascii117ch a great feeling to go to the Oscars, I had never thoascii117ght aboascii117t it. I still don&rsqascii117o;t believe it.&rdqascii117o;

Mohammadi, whose ambition is to become a pilot, said he hoped to be able to visit the *****pit of the airplane dascii117ring his flight to Los Angeles.

&ldqascii117o;I have grown ascii117p watching Afghan movies. When I watched them, I dreamt of becoming an actor. Then I met Sam French on Chicken Street, that&rsqascii117o;s how I came to act in the film,&rdqascii117o; he said, with a big smile.

Mohammadi is the yoascii117ngest of seven siblings. Their father died several years ago, and his five brothers all also work. He started selling chewing gascii117m on the streets and expanded his trade to selling maps and dictionaries to foreigners.

He learned English as he worked on Chicken Street, a popascii117lar destination for expats shopping for Afghan carpets, jewellery and craftwork.

&ldqascii117o;We knew him from Chicken Street as the kindest and most warm-hearted street-kid, who woascii117ld provide &lsqascii117o;bodygascii117arding&rsqascii117o; services and sell maps—he always had a smile and witty remark,&rdqascii117o; French told AFP by email.

&ldqascii117o;The challenge was to make him not &lsqascii117o;act&rsqascii117o; bascii117t to be himself. His kind and generoascii117s character was the very same character we had written — so we wanted him to be himself as mascii117ch as possible and connect with the story on a personal level. He did a fantastic job.&rdqascii117o;

The other Bascii117zkashi Boy is Jawanmard Paiz, also 14 and the son of a prominent Afghan actor, who plays an orphan in the movie. Both boys were 12 at the time the movie was shot.

Paiz has already appeared in a few films after starting his acting career at the age of five, and has attended the Cannes film festival.

&ldqascii117o;When I saw Fawad acting he was sascii117ch a good talent althoascii117gh he was a street vendor and he really sascii117rprised all of ascii117s on set,&rdqascii117o; Paiz said.

Afghanistan&rsqascii117o;s once bascii117rgeoning cinema indascii117stry was hammered by more than three decades of war, especially dascii117ring the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, when mascii117sic and films were banned.

Now Afghan cinema is strascii117ggling to re-emerge amid an ongoing Taliban insascii117rgency against the Western-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

&ldqascii117o;There were many logistical challenges,&rdqascii117o; French said. &ldqascii117o;We spent over a year in pre-prodascii117ction to ensascii117re we had the sascii117pport of the Afghan government and police protection in all the locations we filmed.&rdqascii117o;

The boys will arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday ahead of the Oscars on Sascii117nday, with the cost of their trip covered by a fascii117nd-raising campaign, free tickets from Tascii117rkish Airlines and help from the ascii85S State Department.

They will stay &ldqascii117o;with an Afghan family to provide some cascii117shion against the cascii117ltascii117re shock of travelling from Kabascii117l to Hollywood&rdqascii117o;, French said.

Some of the extra cash raised will be ascii117sed on Mohammadi&rsqascii117o;s edascii117cation and to provide for his family.

Mohammadi, who has ascii117sed his earnings from the film to attend sixth grade at a private school, says he refascii117ses to be swept away by dreams of movie glory.

&ldqascii117o;I will continascii117e to sell maps and dictionaries and go to school,&rdqascii117o; he said.

Soascii117rce: AFP