The breadwinner

THE BREADWINNER | An Afghan girl poses as a boy in Cartoon Saloon’s latest animated stunner…

The new animation from the creators of The Secret Of Kells. So, unmissable.

With The Secret Of Kells and Song Of The Sea, Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon weaved Celtic legend and coming-of-age adventures to spellbinding effect. Now it’s venturing overseas for The Breadwinner – the story of an 11-year-old doing what she must to survive Taliban-controlled Kabul. “I almost paralysed myself, thinking, ‘How the hell am I going to do this?’” laughs director Nora Twomey, who hadn’t visited Afghanistan before signing up. “It was a huge challenge.”

Based on the best-selling novel by Deborah Ellis, it centres on Parvana (Saara Chaudry), a young girl who assumes the identity of a boy to provide food for her family when their father is thrown in jail. Tackling tough subject matter, including systemic misogyny, oppression and poverty,

The Breadwinner isn’t traditional kids fare, but refuses to patronise the young audience it’s aimed at. “Deborah has an amazing ability to address complex issues in a way that doesn’t talk down to young adults,” says Twomey, who co-directed Kells, but is flying solo here. “I thought if we could translate that, it could be something very unusual.”

Featuring a cast of unknowns led by 13-year-old Canadian Chaudry (a fan of the book who landed her dream role) and typically exquisite animation, the film also features storybook interludes in which Parvana entertains her infant

brother. “Emotional disengagement was the thing I was worried about,” says Twomey, who animates these fantasy sequences with striking, highly stylised cutouts. “So I wanted to make sure the audience had an escape, and that the escape itself had depth.”

Twomey also had some high-profile help in the shape of exec-producer Angelina Jolie, whose Afghan aid work has included funding two girls schools. “She helped us navigate the casting and guide the sensibility,” Twomey says of Jolie, who also assisted with the film’s bittersweet ending.

“We didn’t try to do a happy ending, but we didn’t want to leave our audience without hope,” Twomey smiles. “Hope is the centre of the whole film.”

ETA | 25 MAY / THE BREADWINNER OPENS NEXT MONTH.

BOYS CLUB Friends Parvana and Shauzia (voiced by Saara Chaudry and Soma Chhaya), who both dress as boys to help their families survive; Parvana with her dad (below, voiced by Ali Badshah).