:Buzkashi Boys

{{Infobox film

| name = Buzkashi Boys

| image = Buzkashi Boys poster.png

| caption = Film poster

| director = Sam French{{cite web|title=Buzkashi Boys Team|url=http://www.buzkashiboys.com/846154/team|publisher=BuzkashiBoys.com|accessdate=10 January 2013}}

| producer = Ariel Nasr{{cite news|title=Afghan teen stars to accompany Canadian Oscar nominee to show|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/afghan-teen-stars-to-accompany-canadian-oscar-nominee-to-show-1.1160209#ixzz2LCoQH24l|last=Oliveira|first=Michael|date=17 February 2013|work=CTV News|publisher=The Canadian Press|accessdate=18 February 2013}}

| writer = Martin Desmond Roe

| screenplay =

| story =

| based_on =

| narrator =

| starring = Fawad Mohammadi
Jawanmard Paiz
Wali Talash

| music = Jim Dooley

| cinematography =

| editing =

| studio = Afghan Film Project
Development Pictures

| distributor = ShortsHD

| released = {{Film date|2012|12|7|Santa Fe International Film Festival}}{{cite web|title=Release dates for Buzkashi Boys|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2133304/releaseinfo|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=10 January 2013}}

| runtime = 29 minutes

| country = Afghanistan
United States

| language = Dari

| budget =

}}

Buzkashi Boys is a 2012 film directed by Sam French, and co-produced in Afghanistan and the United States. It was nominated for the 2013 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.{{cite web|title=11 Live Action Shorts Advance in Oscar® Race|url=http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2012/20121129a.html|publisher=The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|accessdate=10 January 2013}}{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Caroline|title=Wayne Native's Film to Play at Bryn Mawr Film Institute|url=http://radnor.patch.com/articles/wayne-native-s-film-to-play-at-bryn-mawr-film-institute|accessdate=10 January 2013|newspaper=RadnorPatch|date=2012-12-22}}{{cite web|url=http://oscar.go.com/nominees?cid=AMPAS_oscarnominees|title=2013 Oscar Nominees|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|accessdate=January 10, 2013}}

After being nominated for an Oscar, the film was released along with all the other 15 Oscar-nominated short films in theaters by ShortsHD.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|title=Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013|year=2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/02/01/movies/awardsseason/oscar-shorts.html}}{{cite web|work=The New York Times|title=Buzkashi Boys|year=2013|url=https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/02/01/movies/awardsseason/oscar-shorts-7.html}}

Production

In the film, Paiz plays a street kid who forms a friendship with a blacksmith’s son, played by Fawad Mohammadi. Mohammadi was a street vendor in real life, selling maps and souvenirs in Kabul. Their roles in the film reversed their real-life circumstances, with the production team casting Mohammadi based on his personality, which aligned with the character of the blacksmith's son.{{Cite news |date=2013 |title=Shahrukh Khan, Sunny Deol role models of Buzkashi Boys |url=https://khaama.com/shahrukh-khan-sunny-deol-role-models-of-buzkashi-boys-2238/ |work=Khaama Press}} While filming one scene on the streets of Kabul, Paiz was mistaken by a relative for a beggar, as he had dressed in tattered clothing and waved an incense burner for the role.{{Cite news |date=2013 |title=Paiz and Buzkashi Boys: Does Hard Work, or Fate and Coincidence, Create Success? |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/fawad-and-buzkashi-boys-does-hard-work-or-fate-and-coincidence-create-success/4008943.html |work=Voice of America}}{{Cite news |date=2013 |title=Young Afghan actors get ready for the Oscars |url=https://www.usatoday.com/videos/life/2013/02/07/young-afghan-actors-get-ready-for-the-oscars/1900121/ |work=USA Today}}

Plot

Filmed entirely on location in Kabul, Afghanistan, Buzkashi Boys tells the coming of age story of two best friends – a street urchin and a blacksmith's son {{ndash}} who dream of a better life. Rafi, whose family has long worked in blacksmith trade, bridles under his father's insistence that he follow in his footsteps.

His best friend Ahmad, a penniless orphan, survives by begging for coins in exchange for a puff of incense from his makeshift censer—a tin can swung from a piece of wire. Seeking to escape their destinies, the two friends dream of becoming champion horsemen in Afghanistan's national sport, Buzkashi—a dangerous form of polo played on horseback with a headless goat carcass instead of a ball. When Ahmad decides to steal a horse to prove he can realize his dreams, things spiral out of control and Rafi must come to terms with the reality of his situation.

Accolades

=Film festival awards=

L.A. Shorts Fest – Drama: Best-of Category{{cite web|title=BUZKASHI BOYS WINS BEST DRAMA AT LA SHORTSFEST!|url=http://www.developmentpictures.com/166348/press_and_awards/buzkashi-boys-wins-best-drama-at-la-shortsfest|publisher=Development Pictures|accessdate=10 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130215193740/http://www.developmentpictures.com/166348/press_and_awards/buzkashi-boys-wins-best-drama-at-la-shortsfest|archive-date=2013-02-15|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=AWARD WINNERS|url=http://lashortsfest.com/content.asp?PageID=2|publisher=LA Shorts Fest|accessdate=10 January 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105023016/http://lashortsfest.com/content.asp?PageID=2|archivedate=5 January 2013}}{{cite web|title=Afghan film "Buzkashi Boys" shortlisted for Oscar|url=http://www.baag.org.uk/whats-new/afghan-film-buzkashi-boys-shortlisted-oscar|publisher=British & Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group|accessdate=10 January 2013}}
Raindance Film Festival – Best International Short Film{{cite web|title=Screening of "Buzkashi Boys" in Alumni Hall|url=http://www.ukings.ca/event/screening-buzkashi-boys-alumni-hall|publisher=University of King's College|accessdate=10 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055030/http://www.ukings.ca/event/screening-buzkashi-boys-alumni-hall|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.raindance.org/buzkashi-boys-makes-oscar-shortlist/|title = Buzkashi Boys Makes Oscar Shortlist|date = 30 November 2012}}
UK Film Festival – Best Cinematography
Evolution International Film Festival – Best Short Film{{cite web|title=Winners Palma de Mallorca 2012|url=http://www.evolutionfilmfestival.com/#!AWARDS/cnak|publisher=Evolution International Film Festival|accessdate=10 January 2013}}
Rhode Island International Film Festival – Best Cinematography{{cite web|title=2012 Film Festival Award Winners Announced|url=http://www.film-festival.org/award12.php|publisher=Rhode Island International Film Festival|accessdate=10 January 2013}}
ÉCU The European Independent Film festival {{ndash}} Best Non-European Independent Dramatic Short 2013{{cite web|title=ECU Filmfestival 2013|url=http://www.ecufilmfestival.com/?page_id=18963&lang=en|accessdate=1 April 2013}}

=Award nominations=

85th Academy Awards – Best Live Action Short Film{{cite web|title=Short Film (Live Action) / BUZKASHI BOYS|url=http://oscar.go.com/nominees/short-film-live-action/buzkashi-boys|publisher=The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|accessdate=10 January 2013}}{{cite news|title=Oscar Nominations List 2013: Complete Rundown Of Academy Award Nominees|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/10/oscar-nominations-list_n_2447171.html|accessdate=10 January 2013|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=2013-01-13}}