Barmak is an Afghan filmmaker who started out making documentaries. He rose to fame when his movie “Osama” won world-wide praise. It even won the prestigious Golden Globe award for best foreign film at a ceremony in California, USA in January 2004. “Osama” is the story of a young girl during the oppressive rule of the Taliban who is forced to dress like a boy in order to provide for her mother and grandmother. During the Taliban, women were forbidden to work or even leave the house without a “legal companion”. Barmak was born in 1962, and is from the Panjsher valley.