With Bread and Roses, Jennifer Lawrence hopes to shed light on the Taliban‘s control in Afghanistan, where women and girls have been stripped of many rights.
The Oscar winner, who produced the Sahra Mani-helmed documentary alongside EP Malala Yousafzai, explained that there was pushback about the project, both from the public and from her own loved ones.
“My family and friends definitely encouraged me not to [produce the film],” said Lawrence on CBS Mornings. “It’s dangerous. Of course it is. But there’s 20 million women whose lives are in danger.”
Meanwhile, online trolls have also criticized Lawrence’s experience on the issue. “They always say different things. I did a 60 Minutes interview where I explained that I dropped out of middle school, so I’m technically not educated. And so I think common one, especially with this subject, is ‘Why is someone without an education trying to talk about politics?’” she noted.
“To that I say it’s not political, it’s peoples lives,” added Lawrence. “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 recognize gender apartheid. But I don’t find it political. Also, I am educated in filmmaking, I am educated in telling stories.”
‘Bread and Roses’
Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
After US troops pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban took control, taking away women’s rights to education past the sixth grade, work or walk in public without a male chaperone.
“My first reaction when watching that was to do what the Taliban did not want us to do, which was give access and facilities to the people on the ground to capture what was happening on the ground in real time,” said Lawrence. “Because obviously, the Taliban flourishes in secrecy.”
Directed by Mani, Bread and Roses follows three Afghan women secretly filming their protests and lives under Taliban rule. “I can’t imagine not being able to take a taxi or not being able to listen to music,” added Lawrence. “I can’t imagine if just the sound of my voice was illegal.”
Bread and Roses, which was acquired by Apple Original Films after it premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, will debut Friday in select Los Angeles an New York City theaters.