Son of a Lion
Encyclopedia
Son of a Lion is a 2007 Australian-Pakistani drama film set in Darra Adam Khel
, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The film tells the story of Niaz Afridi (Niaz Khan Shinwari), a Pashtun
boy who wants to go to school instead of carrying on the family business of manufacturing firearms. The director, Benjamin Gilmour, is an Australian former paramedic; Son of a Lion is his first film. It was filmed in the area around Darra with the cooperation of local residents. The actors are local non-professionals, and much of the dialogue is improvised. It has received generally positive reviews. The film is in Pashto
with English subtitles.
Gilmour returned to Pakistan in 2005 and spent several months building up the network of contacts necessary to make the film, while teaching film at IQRA University
in Lahore. Eventually Gilmour was introduced to Hayat Khan Shinwari, a landowner in the Darra area, who offered him protection and assistance in making the film. Khan Shinwari is credited as the film's executive producer and assistant director.
Foreigners were banned from entering Darra soon after the 11 September attacks, and Gilmour didn't apply for a permit to enter the area, expecting that none would be granted. Instead he filmed in secret, wearing a salwar kameez and a long beard to blend in. To minimize the chance of discovery by the Pakistani authorities or Islamist militants, Gilmour says that he used "relatively safe places such as inside walled compounds, empty mountainsides and valleys to shoot many of the longer scenes with dialogue. This minimized the number of scenes we needed to shoot in the actual Darra bazaar." The film was shot on a small digital camera, again "to limit the chance of detection." Son of a Lion cost slightly over £2,000 to film. The Australian Film Commission
funded its post-production
.
Gilmour says that his original script "was ridiculed by the locals I wanted to work with" and so "it was soon abandoned and we started from scratch." While the film's "basic premise" remained the same, significant changes were made to its plot, and much of the dialogue was improvised.
Son of a Lion is a 2007 Australian-Pakistani drama film set in Darra Adam Khel
, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The film tells the story of Niaz Afridi (Niaz Khan Shinwari), a Pashtun
boy who wants to go to school instead of carrying on the family business of manufacturing firearms. The director, Benjamin Gilmour, is an Australian former paramedic; Son of a Lion is his first film. It was filmed in the area around Darra with the cooperation of local residents. The actors are local non-professionals, and much of the dialogue is improvised. It has received generally positive reviews. The film is in Pashto
with English subtitles.
Gilmour returned to Pakistan in 2005 and spent several months building up the network of contacts necessary to make the film, while teaching film at IQRA University
in Lahore. Eventually Gilmour was introduced to Hayat Khan Shinwari, a landowner in the Darra area, who offered him protection and assistance in making the film. Khan Shinwari is credited as the film's executive producer and assistant director.
Foreigners were banned from entering Darra soon after the 11 September attacks, and Gilmour didn't apply for a permit to enter the area, expecting that none would be granted. Instead he filmed in secret, wearing a salwar kameez and a long beard to blend in. To minimize the chance of discovery by the Pakistani authorities or Islamist militants, Gilmour says that he used "relatively safe places such as inside walled compounds, empty mountainsides and valleys to shoot many of the longer scenes with dialogue. This minimized the number of scenes we needed to shoot in the actual Darra bazaar." The film was shot on a small digital camera, again "to limit the chance of detection." Son of a Lion cost slightly over £2,000 to film. The Australian Film Commission
funded its post-production
.
Gilmour says that his original script "was ridiculed by the locals I wanted to work with" and so "it was soon abandoned and we started from scratch." While the film's "basic premise" remained the same, significant changes were made to its plot, and much of the dialogue was improvised.
Son of a Lion is a 2007 Australian-Pakistani drama film set in Darra Adam Khel
, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The film tells the story of Niaz Afridi (Niaz Khan Shinwari), a Pashtun
boy who wants to go to school instead of carrying on the family business of manufacturing firearms. The director, Benjamin Gilmour, is an Australian former paramedic; Son of a Lion is his first film. It was filmed in the area around Darra with the cooperation of local residents. The actors are local non-professionals, and much of the dialogue is improvised. It has received generally positive reviews. The film is in Pashto
with English subtitles.
Gilmour returned to Pakistan in 2005 and spent several months building up the network of contacts necessary to make the film, while teaching film at IQRA University
in Lahore. Eventually Gilmour was introduced to Hayat Khan Shinwari, a landowner in the Darra area, who offered him protection and assistance in making the film. Khan Shinwari is credited as the film's executive producer and assistant director.
Foreigners were banned from entering Darra soon after the 11 September attacks, and Gilmour didn't apply for a permit to enter the area, expecting that none would be granted. Instead he filmed in secret, wearing a salwar kameez and a long beard to blend in. To minimize the chance of discovery by the Pakistani authorities or Islamist militants, Gilmour says that he used "relatively safe places such as inside walled compounds, empty mountainsides and valleys to shoot many of the longer scenes with dialogue. This minimized the number of scenes we needed to shoot in the actual Darra bazaar." The film was shot on a small digital camera, again "to limit the chance of detection." Son of a Lion cost slightly over £2,000 to film. The Australian Film Commission
funded its post-production
.
Gilmour says that his original script "was ridiculed by the locals I wanted to work with" and so "it was soon abandoned and we started from scratch." While the film's "basic premise" remained the same, significant changes were made to its plot, and much of the dialogue was improvised. The screenplay is credited to "Benjamin Gilmour in collaboration with the people of Kohat
and Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan."
According to Gilmour, "Auditions were not possible, as they would have involved exposing our mission. So our cast was taken from a small number of families in the collaborating clans." Khan Shinwari himself appears in it, and he persuaded his son Niaz (who plays Niaz), mother (Niaz's grandmother), business partner (Niaz's uncle) and others to act in it as well. Gilmour also appears in one scene, as a woman wearing a burqa
. Since Gilmour speaks little Pashto, he communicated with the cast through Niaz Khan Shinwari: "What usually happened was that I work-shopped the scene with Niaz, the lead actor, who spoke excellent English. He would then, in turn, discuss the scene with the other actors in Pashto."
(formerly a member of The Go-Betweens
) and performed by Brown in collaboration with Sydney-based Afghan, Pakistani, and Lebanese musicians. It includes a song sung by Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad Baktiyar, the actor who plays Niaz's father, Sher Alam Afridi. Baktiyar's vocals were taken from footage cut from the film, specifically from a scene in which Afridi visits his wife's grave. The soundtrack was released in September 2008. Jarrod Watt, reviewing the soundtrack for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, gave it four out of five stars.
in May 2008. It was screened at various other Australian and international film festivals as well, including the Berlin International Film Festival
(February 2008), the San Francisco International Film Festival
(April 2008), and the Edinburgh International Film Festival
(May 2008). Hayat and Niaz Khan Shinwari travelled to Australia for the film's festival screenings there. It had limited releases in Australia in 2008 (opening on 21 August) and in the UK in 2009.
In 2008 Gilmour also published a book about the film's making, titled Warrior Poets.
In January 2009 Gilmour wrote in a newspaper editorial that "[s]ince completing Son of a Lion in 2007, one of our actors has been shot and killed, another kidnapped, while our production car was destroyed by an explosion in which its owner and his son also died. And yet, after all this, a group of extras from the film has left to join the Taliban."
, based on eight reviews.
Darra Adam Khel
Darra Adam Khel is a town in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, located between Peshawar and Kohat, very close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It is inhabited by Pashtuns of the Afridi clan, the Adam Khel. The town consists of one main street lined with shops, with some...
, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The film tells the story of Niaz Afridi (Niaz Khan Shinwari), a Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
boy who wants to go to school instead of carrying on the family business of manufacturing firearms. The director, Benjamin Gilmour, is an Australian former paramedic; Son of a Lion is his first film. It was filmed in the area around Darra with the cooperation of local residents. The actors are local non-professionals, and much of the dialogue is improvised. It has received generally positive reviews. The film is in Pashto
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
with English subtitles.
Cast
- Niaz Khan Shinwari – Niaz Afridi
- Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad Baktiyar – Sher Alam Afridi
- Baktiyar Ahmed Afridi Agha – Baktiyar Afridi
- Agha Jaan Anousha Baktiyar – Agha Jaan
- Fazal Bibi Pite – Grandma
- Khaista Mir Hayat Afridi – Pite Afridi
- Anousha Vasif Shinwari – Anousha Baktiyar
- Hayat Khan Shinwari – Hayat Afridi
Production
Gilmour visited Darra Adam Khel in August 2001, on his way from Australia to Britain, and wanted to make a film that would combat negative Western perceptions of Pashtuns and Muslims following the 11 September attacks. He wrote the first draft of the film's script (the initial title was The Bullet Boy) while working as a nurse on the sets of British TV series such as The Bill and Murphy's Law. The character of Niaz was based on a boy Gilmour met on his 2001 visit.Gilmour returned to Pakistan in 2005 and spent several months building up the network of contacts necessary to make the film, while teaching film at IQRA University
Iqra University
IQRA University is a private higher education university in Pakistan with main campus located at Karachi, Sindh and campuses at Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta. It was established in 1998 by the businessman Hunaid H...
in Lahore. Eventually Gilmour was introduced to Hayat Khan Shinwari, a landowner in the Darra area, who offered him protection and assistance in making the film. Khan Shinwari is credited as the film's executive producer and assistant director.
Foreigners were banned from entering Darra soon after the 11 September attacks, and Gilmour didn't apply for a permit to enter the area, expecting that none would be granted. Instead he filmed in secret, wearing a salwar kameez and a long beard to blend in. To minimize the chance of discovery by the Pakistani authorities or Islamist militants, Gilmour says that he used "relatively safe places such as inside walled compounds, empty mountainsides and valleys to shoot many of the longer scenes with dialogue. This minimized the number of scenes we needed to shoot in the actual Darra bazaar." The film was shot on a small digital camera, again "to limit the chance of detection." Son of a Lion cost slightly over £2,000 to film. The Australian Film Commission
Australian Film Commission
The Australian Film Commission was an Australian government agency with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a production arm responsible for production and commissioning of films for government...
funded its post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
.
Gilmour says that his original script "was ridiculed by the locals I wanted to work with" and so "it was soon abandoned and we started from scratch." While the film's "basic premise" remained the same, significant changes were made to its plot, and much of the dialogue was improvised.
Son of a Lion is a 2007 Australian-Pakistani drama film set in Darra Adam Khel
Darra Adam Khel
Darra Adam Khel is a town in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, located between Peshawar and Kohat, very close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It is inhabited by Pashtuns of the Afridi clan, the Adam Khel. The town consists of one main street lined with shops, with some...
, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The film tells the story of Niaz Afridi (Niaz Khan Shinwari), a Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
boy who wants to go to school instead of carrying on the family business of manufacturing firearms. The director, Benjamin Gilmour, is an Australian former paramedic; Son of a Lion is his first film. It was filmed in the area around Darra with the cooperation of local residents. The actors are local non-professionals, and much of the dialogue is improvised. It has received generally positive reviews. The film is in Pashto
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
with English subtitles.
Cast
- Niaz Khan Shinwari – Niaz Afridi
- Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad Baktiyar – Sher Alam Afridi
- Baktiyar Ahmed Afridi Agha – Baktiyar Afridi
- Agha Jaan Anousha Baktiyar – Agha Jaan
- Fazal Bibi Pite – Grandma
- Khaista Mir Hayat Afridi – Pite Afridi
- Anousha Vasif Shinwari – Anousha Baktiyar
- Hayat Khan Shinwari – Hayat Afridi
Production
Gilmour visited Darra Adam Khel in August 2001, on his way from Australia to Britain, and wanted to make a film that would combat negative Western perceptions of Pashtuns and Muslims following the 11 September attacks. He wrote the first draft of the film's script (the initial title was The Bullet Boy) while working as a nurse on the sets of British TV series such as The Bill and Murphy's Law. The character of Niaz was based on a boy Gilmour met on his 2001 visit.Gilmour returned to Pakistan in 2005 and spent several months building up the network of contacts necessary to make the film, while teaching film at IQRA University
Iqra University
IQRA University is a private higher education university in Pakistan with main campus located at Karachi, Sindh and campuses at Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta. It was established in 1998 by the businessman Hunaid H...
in Lahore. Eventually Gilmour was introduced to Hayat Khan Shinwari, a landowner in the Darra area, who offered him protection and assistance in making the film. Khan Shinwari is credited as the film's executive producer and assistant director.
Foreigners were banned from entering Darra soon after the 11 September attacks, and Gilmour didn't apply for a permit to enter the area, expecting that none would be granted. Instead he filmed in secret, wearing a salwar kameez and a long beard to blend in. To minimize the chance of discovery by the Pakistani authorities or Islamist militants, Gilmour says that he used "relatively safe places such as inside walled compounds, empty mountainsides and valleys to shoot many of the longer scenes with dialogue. This minimized the number of scenes we needed to shoot in the actual Darra bazaar." The film was shot on a small digital camera, again "to limit the chance of detection." Son of a Lion cost slightly over £2,000 to film. The Australian Film Commission
Australian Film Commission
The Australian Film Commission was an Australian government agency with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a production arm responsible for production and commissioning of films for government...
funded its post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
.
Gilmour says that his original script "was ridiculed by the locals I wanted to work with" and so "it was soon abandoned and we started from scratch." While the film's "basic premise" remained the same, significant changes were made to its plot, and much of the dialogue was improvised.
Son of a Lion is a 2007 Australian-Pakistani drama film set in Darra Adam Khel
Darra Adam Khel
Darra Adam Khel is a town in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, located between Peshawar and Kohat, very close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It is inhabited by Pashtuns of the Afridi clan, the Adam Khel. The town consists of one main street lined with shops, with some...
, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The film tells the story of Niaz Afridi (Niaz Khan Shinwari), a Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
boy who wants to go to school instead of carrying on the family business of manufacturing firearms. The director, Benjamin Gilmour, is an Australian former paramedic; Son of a Lion is his first film. It was filmed in the area around Darra with the cooperation of local residents. The actors are local non-professionals, and much of the dialogue is improvised. It has received generally positive reviews. The film is in Pashto
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
with English subtitles.
Cast
- Niaz Khan Shinwari – Niaz Afridi
- Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad Baktiyar – Sher Alam Afridi
- Baktiyar Ahmed Afridi Agha – Baktiyar Afridi
- Agha Jaan Anousha Baktiyar – Agha Jaan
- Fazal Bibi Pite – Grandma
- Khaista Mir Hayat Afridi – Pite Afridi
- Anousha Vasif Shinwari – Anousha Baktiyar
- Hayat Khan Shinwari – Hayat Afridi
Production
Gilmour visited Darra Adam Khel in August 2001, on his way from Australia to Britain, and wanted to make a film that would combat negative Western perceptions of Pashtuns and Muslims following the 11 September attacks. He wrote the first draft of the film's script (the initial title was The Bullet Boy) while working as a nurse on the sets of British TV series such as The Bill and Murphy's Law. The character of Niaz was based on a boy Gilmour met on his 2001 visit.Gilmour returned to Pakistan in 2005 and spent several months building up the network of contacts necessary to make the film, while teaching film at IQRA University
Iqra University
IQRA University is a private higher education university in Pakistan with main campus located at Karachi, Sindh and campuses at Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta. It was established in 1998 by the businessman Hunaid H...
in Lahore. Eventually Gilmour was introduced to Hayat Khan Shinwari, a landowner in the Darra area, who offered him protection and assistance in making the film. Khan Shinwari is credited as the film's executive producer and assistant director.
Foreigners were banned from entering Darra soon after the 11 September attacks, and Gilmour didn't apply for a permit to enter the area, expecting that none would be granted. Instead he filmed in secret, wearing a salwar kameez and a long beard to blend in. To minimize the chance of discovery by the Pakistani authorities or Islamist militants, Gilmour says that he used "relatively safe places such as inside walled compounds, empty mountainsides and valleys to shoot many of the longer scenes with dialogue. This minimized the number of scenes we needed to shoot in the actual Darra bazaar." The film was shot on a small digital camera, again "to limit the chance of detection." Son of a Lion cost slightly over £2,000 to film. The Australian Film Commission
Australian Film Commission
The Australian Film Commission was an Australian government agency with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a production arm responsible for production and commissioning of films for government...
funded its post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
.
Gilmour says that his original script "was ridiculed by the locals I wanted to work with" and so "it was soon abandoned and we started from scratch." While the film's "basic premise" remained the same, significant changes were made to its plot, and much of the dialogue was improvised. The screenplay is credited to "Benjamin Gilmour in collaboration with the people of Kohat
Kohat
Kohat is a medium sized town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at 33°35'13N 71°26'29E with an altitude of 489 metres and is the capital of Kohat District. The town centres around a British-era fort, various bazaars, and a military cantonment. A British-built narrow gauge...
and Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan."
According to Gilmour, "Auditions were not possible, as they would have involved exposing our mission. So our cast was taken from a small number of families in the collaborating clans." Khan Shinwari himself appears in it, and he persuaded his son Niaz (who plays Niaz), mother (Niaz's grandmother), business partner (Niaz's uncle) and others to act in it as well. Gilmour also appears in one scene, as a woman wearing a burqa
Burqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
. Since Gilmour speaks little Pashto, he communicated with the cast through Niaz Khan Shinwari: "What usually happened was that I work-shopped the scene with Niaz, the lead actor, who spoke excellent English. He would then, in turn, discuss the scene with the other actors in Pashto."
Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Amanda BrownAmanda Brown (musician)
Amanda Gabrielle Brown is an Australian composer, classically trained musician, singer and songwriter, renowned for her role as the violinist of the band The Go-Betweens and more recently a session musician and soundtrack composer....
(formerly a member of The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
) and performed by Brown in collaboration with Sydney-based Afghan, Pakistani, and Lebanese musicians. It includes a song sung by Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad Baktiyar, the actor who plays Niaz's father, Sher Alam Afridi. Baktiyar's vocals were taken from footage cut from the film, specifically from a scene in which Afridi visits his wife's grave. The soundtrack was released in September 2008. Jarrod Watt, reviewing the soundtrack for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, gave it four out of five stars.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Pusan International Film Festival in October 2007 and its Australian premiere at the Sydney Film FestivalSydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the Australian city of Sydney and is held over 12 days in June. The competitive film festival draws international and local attention, with films being showcased in several venues across the city centre and includes features,...
in May 2008. It was screened at various other Australian and international film festivals as well, including the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
(February 2008), the San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting an average of 150 films from over 50 countries...
(April 2008), and the Edinburgh International Film Festival
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
(May 2008). Hayat and Niaz Khan Shinwari travelled to Australia for the film's festival screenings there. It had limited releases in Australia in 2008 (opening on 21 August) and in the UK in 2009.
In 2008 Gilmour also published a book about the film's making, titled Warrior Poets.
In January 2009 Gilmour wrote in a newspaper editorial that "[s]ince completing Son of a Lion in 2007, one of our actors has been shot and killed, another kidnapped, while our production car was destroyed by an explosion in which its owner and his son also died. And yet, after all this, a group of extras from the film has left to join the Taliban."
DVD
The film was released on DVD in Australia on 7 January 2009. The DVD includes deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, and commentary by Gilmour and Hayat and Niaz Khan Shinwari.Reception
Critics have generally responded positively to the film. As of January 2010 it had an 88% "fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on eight reviews.
Awards
| Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside Film Awards Inside Film Awards The Inside Film Awards is an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry, a format created by Australian Producer Andrew Dillon... (2008) |
Best Music | Amanda Brown | |
| Independent Spirit Award | Benjamin Gilmour, Carolyn Johnson | ||
| Best Feature Film | Benjamin Gilmour, Carolyn Johnson | ||
| Film Critics Circle of Australia Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.-External links:**... Awards (2009) |
Best Director | Benjamin Gilmour | |
| Best Film | Carolyn Johnson | ||
| ARIA Music Awards of 2009 ARIA Music Awards of 2009 The 23rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 26 November 2009 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. The ceremony was telecast on the Nine Network at 8:30pm that night... |
Best Soundtrack | Amanda Brown | |
External links
- Son of a Lion Official site