News Log 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/movies/22tulip.html?ref=arts

"A Director's Many Battles to Make Her Movie"

Under constant threat of the Afghan militants, Sonia Cole struggled to finish making her movie, "The Black Tulip." The film is a love story, set in 2001, right before the Taliban took power. It's about the Mansouri's, a Kabul family that opens a restaurant named The Poet's Corner. In the restaurant, artists and writers were motivated to use the open mic. However, they are not as safe as they think they are, and the Taliban punishes them, showing that they are not gone from Afghanistan. The whole movie was filmed in Afghanistan; miraculously, even with daily warnings and risks, no one from the crew or cast was killed. Ms. Cole says, however, that there was one incident that will forever remain in her memory: Zarifa Jahon, the woman who was supposed to play the lead, was taken in by militants, who cut off her feet. Other crew members left by choice, nervous and fearful of the threats that they were getting nearly everyday. Said threats went so far as a bomb blast at the hotel that Ms. Cole was staying in. Thankfully, she survived, and played the role of the mother of the Mansouri family, replacing Jahon. "The Black Tulip" is premiering at the Ariana Cinema Theater in Kabul on Thursday, September 23rd.

Response:
Ms. Cole was right to continue filming her move in Afghanistan, even after receiving threats and being attacked. She stood up to everyone opposing her, and finished her film. She overcame the obstacles and even after crew members left, Ms. Cole worked hard on the film. She had to leave behind her son, and her home in Los Angeles. She was confident and determined, and completed her job. While others may believe she is wrong to have done this, I believe that she took the right stand.