The movie Jennifer Lawrence’s family told her not to make: “It’s dangerous, of course it is”
Jennifer Lawrence is one of the most celebrated actors of her generation, winning her first Academy Award at just the age of 22 for Silver Linings Playbook and going on to star in Don’t Look Up, Mother! and The Hunger Games.
With her witty sense of humour and humility, Lawrence became a fast favourite in Hollywood and found success through comedic and dramatic roles, showing a swift versatility as she continues to work outside the box and make surprising choices. However, while she is known for her work in front of the camera, the actor has recently been involved in a number of projects as a producer, sparking attention for one controversial documentary in particular.
Lawrence recently produced films like No Hard Feelings, Causeway and Die, My Love, but moved to unfamiliar territory for the production of Bread and Roses, a documentary directed by Sahra Mani about the Taliban’s oppression of women in Afghanistan. Lawrence worked alongside Malala Yousafzai to bring the project to fruition despite facing objections from her family over the dangers of making the film given the politically charged subject matter and implications of criticising the Taliban.
When asked about her involvement in the project, Lawrence said, “My family and friends definitely encouraged me not to [produce the film]. It’s dangerous. Of course, it is. But there’s 20 million women whose lives are in danger.”
The actor also faced criticism for involving herself in political issues, to which she replied: “To that I say it’s not political, it’s people’s lives. It’s political in the sense that you should push your congress people and you should get involved to make our government more accountable, then the UN can recognise gender apartheid. But I don’t find it political. Also, I am educated in filmmaking, I am educated in telling stories.”
Bread and Roses follows a group of Afghan women who secretly film their lives under Taliban rule, highlighting the basic freedoms and liberties that many of us take for granted and just how many of their rights have been stripped away from them. Girls in Afghanistan have been forbidden from attending secondary school, and the age of consent has been lowered so that more children are becoming child brides, with women being seen as property and having their rights extremely restricted.
When discussing this, Lawrence said, “I can’t imagine not being able to take a taxi or not being able to listen to music…I can’t imagine if just the sound of my voice was illegal.” Despite facing backlash for her involvement in the project, Lawrence is right to use her privilege and voice to amplify these issues, raising awareness of a reality that many of us are blind to and unaware of how this affects their everyday lives.
The film is a heartbreaking portrait of the obstacles that women in Afghanistan face and the consequences of a misogynistic regime, with an unfiltered and personal look at the oppressive policies that are sweeping the nation and, despite that, the underlying hope for freedom.
