Berlinale Opening Film ‘No Good Men’ by Shahrbanoo Sadat Boarded by Sales Banner Lucky Number (EXCLUSIVE)

Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat‘s “No Good Men,” which is set to open the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, has been boarded by French sales company Lucky Number.

The Paris-based company will launch sales at next month’s European Film Market, where it will also unveil exclusive first-look images. “No Good Men” follows Sadat’s previous two movies, “Wolf and Sheep” and “The Orphanage,” which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2016 and 2019, respectively.

The project also marks the third installment in a planned five-film cycle inspired by the autobiographical writings of author and actor Anwar Hashimi, who stars in the film alongside Sadat herself, who takes on the lead role.

“No Good Men” is Sadat’s first Berlinale opening slot and continues her strong track record on the international festival circuit where she has quickly established herself as one of the most singular voices to emerge from Afghan cinema in recent years.

Set in Kabul in 2021, just before the Taliban’s return to power, the film centers on Naru, the only camerawoman at Afghanistan’s main television station. Struggling to retain custody of her three-year-old son after leaving her unfaithful husband, Naru is convinced that no good men exist in her country — until a career opportunity offered by Qodrat, the station’s most influential journalist, forces her to reconsider. As the two crisscross the city covering what will become Afghanistan’s final days of freedom, a tentative romance emerges, pushing Naru to question her assumptions in a society stacked against her.

Blending comedy, romance and political urgency, “No Good Men” explores the fragile pockets of freedom that women carve out for themselves within a patriarchal society. The film is believed to feature the first onscreen kiss ever depicted in an Afghan feature — a milestone that also underscores the project’s risks. For political reasons and due to the current context, it had to be shot entirely outside of Afghanistan, in Germany. However the entire cast is Afghan.

” ‘No Good Men’ addresses what I believe is the deepest and most enduring problem of Afghan society, and beyond: patriarchy,” Sadat said. “Through Naru, an independent woman living in Kabul during the ‘democracy’ era, the film reveals how deeply rooted oppression existed long before 2021.”

She added that the film seeks to challenge the simplified narratives often applied to Afghanistan’s recent history, insisting that the Taliban represents not only a political force but a long-standing social mindset — while also acknowledging Afghan men who resist and reject that system.

The film is produced by Germany and Denmark’s Adomeit Film (“The Square”), in co-production with France’s La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma, Norway’s Motlys, Germany’s Amerikafilm, Afghanistan’s Wolf Pictures, and Sweden’s Film i Väst. German public funding came from MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the German Federal Film Board (FFA), the German-French Mini-Treaty, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, nordmedia, and MV Filmförderung Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Distributors are already on board in several key territories, including Denmark (Camera Film), Norway (Norsk Filmdistribusjon), France (Condor Films) and Germany (Eksystent).

Lucky Number’s co-founders, Olivier Barbier, Ola Byszuk and Lenny Porte, described the film as “audacious and groundbreaking in countless ways,” praising Sadat’s resilience in bringing the project to completion “against all odds.”

Lucky Number’s lineup includes Felipe Barbosa’s “Leila et La Nuit” (working title), starring Roschdy Zem and Marina Foïs, and Christophe Reveille’s documentary “Che Guevera: The Last Companions,” in time to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Che’s death. Both titles are on the company’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous With French Cinema slate.