While the name Osama often brings images of terrorist Osama bin Laden to mind, the film Osama actually depicts the life of a 12- year-old girl trying to survive under the regime of the Taliban.

The Cultural Lounge Film Series will be showing the film Osama at 9 tonight in the McElwain Cultural Lounge.

Osama, written, directed and produced by Saddiq Barmak, is the first entirely Afghan film to come out of Afghanistan since the Taliban fell.

"Osama is about a 12-year-old girl and her mother who lose their jobs when the Taliban closes the hospital where they work," Sean Cook, residence life assistant director, said. "The Taliban forbids women to leave their houses without a male companion. This presents a problem, because the male members of their family were killed in battle."

The family resolves the problem by dressing the girl as a boy, and calling her Osama, Cook said.

"We see through a filter here at Penn State," Cook said. "This movie provides a great opportunity to try to understand that part of the world from people who actually lived under the rule of the Taliban."

Sarah Haque, Pakistan Student Association president, said she thinks the film is important because it is an accurate depiction of the role of women under the Taliban, not because they're Muslim, but because it illustrates the cultural practices that influenced Afghan women's lifestyles.

"As a South Asian Muslim woman myself, I know that women's roles back home are influenced by culture more so than religion," Haque said. "I think when viewing a
movie like Osama, it is important to distinguish between religious and cultural customs."

Jason Hunt, residence life senior coordinator, said Osama offers a unique perspective on the Afghanistan culture under the Taliban.

"It is an inside glimpse of what life was like for these women," he said.

The purpose of the Cultural Lounge Film Series is to bring diversity to students, Cook said.

"We play a role in understanding multi-cultural diversity on campus," Cook said. "There's a certain value of highlighting diversity through entertainment -- we show movies because students like them."

Cook said he took suggestions from students, staff and residence assistants to come up with the movie list for the film series.

"We were browsing through the suggestions and of course the name Osama caught our attention," he said. "As it turned out, it had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden, but it is still important to show."

Since its release in 2003, Osama has won 14 awards, including three at the Cannes Film Festival, a Golden Globe and one at the London Film Festival, and has had six more nominations.

"Students should go so that they understand for themselves what life was like for women under the Taliban," Cook said, "and for what life is like in the Middle East."