
NBC News
Afghan teen Fawad Mohammadi, 14, is getting ready for a trip down the red carpet at the Oscars.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- On Tuesday, Fawad Mohammadi embarked on a long journey from the dirty mud-baked streets of Kabul to Hollywood's red carpet. It would be his first time leaving Afghanistan and his first time on a plane.
"So excited!" the 14-year-old said as he waited expectantly at Kabul International Airport for his flight. He looked the part, wearing jeans and brandishing his newly minted passport.
It all started when he befriended an American director, Sam French, who was looking for an actor to star in his film, "Buzkashi Boys," two years ago. The movie tells the story of two poor children dreaming of becoming famous buzkashi players, a popular traditional Afghan sport similar to polo.
A 14-year-old Afghan street seller was overcome with emotion when he learned the film Buzkashi Boys, in which he acted, was nominated for an Oscar. Emma Murphy of ITV News reports.
The small-budget film hit the big time in January, when it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
Mohammadi's own life echoes that of the character he plays.
Since he was five, he has supported his widowed mother and six siblings by selling souvenir maps for a few dollars to tourists on the streets of Kabul. He was paid $1,500 for acting in "Buzkashi Boys," which he gave to his mother to help out his family. Average annual income in Afghanistan is under $500 a year.
He never thought his movie debut would change his life.
But it did. Life altered when he learned, in a dusty Internet cafe in Kabul, that the film was nominated for an Oscar, and that he would be invited to the United States. At the time, he had never even heard of the Academy Awards. He was thrilled that he was going to fly on an airplane. This was great news for Mohammadi, who wants to be a pilot when he grows up.
On Tuesday he boarded a plane to take a trip of a lifetime. His final destination is Hollywood, where dreams are made. Mohammadi said he was "proud for Afghanistan, the first Oscar for Afghanistan."
Kiko Itasaka and Michele Neubert of NBC News contributed to this report.
Related:
Tears of joy: The moment an Afghan teen learned of Oscar nomination
Beyond the bombs: Afghanistan's toughest sport also source of hope


well done young man!
Very cool. Too bad he has to go back that s*#t hole of a country afterwards
Yeah, 'cause, you know, if it's not the United States, it must be a s***hole.
Or maybe he'll be relieved to get away from all the Jingoistic racism.
Hoping that that Will Smith (or someone) will adopt him. Why send him back, give him a break, he would make a great ambassador for his people, and could do more humanitarian good than sending a 1000 soldiers .
Good for you, Fawad! Maybe you will become the next Brad Pitt. Of course, then they will have to pay you a lot more than $1,500 for a film. Don't let them gyp you!
An exception!
"Mohammadi said he was "proud for Afghanistan, the first Oscar for Afghanistan.""
Many Pakis and Afghans qualify for Oscars in hating, killing, telling lies, fooling, stealing, raping, backstabbing, killing and joining gangs of those doing genocides of "infidels".
First "infidels" meant non-Muslims and next Muslim minority sect and tribes people.
iam not surprised to see racist coments on here but let me ask you this if you talk like that "@!$%# hole country," and other similar comments how do you expect someone to like your kind or your country.its you being a dick to the people around your neighborhood calling them names and insulting there country nd then you expect them to like you come to your house and have tea with you. the people that call them selves muslims and then later on blow them selves up or make derogatory comments about americans or non muslims arent true muslims. iam muslim i have spent half of my life in america and half in Afghanistan i dont call non muslims infidels or other type of names i have friends that are black,white,hispanic,hindu, and asians. thats how a true muslim is and should be. you people who think all muslims are the same or islam is a religion of hate and blowing people up are just idiots and weak minded you believe whatever you see on tv. remember one day i promise you afghanistan will be the strongest country in the world and all those who were talking crap about it and tried to destroy it will be at the bottom.
These are the sort of dreams and pursuits young men of this country should be chasing, hard as it may be.
Not necessarily movies, but Americans, French, British, ...down to Afghans themselves, need to be providing prominent awards in areas such as literature, film, science, mathematics...etc. This is what makes children dream. This is what children's dreams should be, chasing these things. Not having to wonder if a bomb is going to be strapped to their chest.
Billions in aid to this country, and it is my opinion they have not been able to focus on enough of their children...focusing them, not on hating American's and Jews (who by the way I'm sure was a majority of the Academy Award goers) but rather on being able to attain such lofty ambitions. Peaceworthy ambitions. It almost brings a tear to my eye, imagining some sort of medal or award being hung around this boys neck to hundreds, and even thousands cheering. Much better than an explosive device, a pat on a back from a masked man, and a finger toward the bus he's supposed to walk on and pull the rip cord.
aziz: Likes of you need to fight while some Muslims do genocides of minorities including of those of minority Muslim sects.
If people are calling all sorts of names to Muslims, it is because what some Muslims have done to non-Muslims and likes of you tolerating them.
What Muslims are getting back are only reactions and not yet killings to avenge the atrocities done by Muslims.
you people who think all muslims are the same or islam is a religion of hate
Why do Muslim terrorists misunderstand their religion and why do they all misunderstand it in exactly the same way? Are they reading the Qur'an?
Jonathan,
"If people are calling all sorts of names to Muslims, it is because what some Muslims have done to non-Muslims and likes of you tolerating them."
What has any Muslim done to you personally? Because it is you who are "calling all sorts of names to Muslims"; not "people" who are doing that. I've seen your posts many times, and you never have anything good to say about Muslims.
Mickey: These days there are posts worse than I do.
I have been among Muslims all along my life!
Let me briefly sum up (in the long run): I have not seen a good and sane Muslim yet!
Jonathan,
That's strange! I have seen good and sane Muslims. So maybe the problem is with you.
Mickey: Hope you have an idea of what is going on in the world.
I am only doing posts.
In Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and other places, Muslims are killing each other on the basis of Muslim sects/tribes.
Can there be worse hateful acts?
Where are "aziz"s?
Jonathan,
"Can there be worse hateful acts?"
There can be no worse act than killing another human being, but Muslims do not have a monopoly on that business. You only have to look at the streets of our own cities to see rival gangs killing each other. Chicago is a good example of that. So why aren't you condemning Americans?
surely the president will invite him to the white house he can keep and eye on it while his arrogance plays golf...or does some more stupid stuff to distract everybody see'n what a problem solver he ain't...
Mickey: Gangs are all over the world including Chicago, New York and other places.
Religion based battles these days due to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are new serious threats all over the world for Muslim minority sects/tribes and non-Muslims. Hope you have read my post below.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will be one day wiped out of the map for world peace and economic stability!
Just wait and watch.
There are limits even to religious madness.
@stratocumulus, I never said anything about other countries. I said Afghanastan is a s*&thole....if you disagree, maybe your dumba$$ should move there.
Awesome!!! Hope you have a good time and don't live in fear. You will do great things
Jonathan, please shut up.
You are really ignorant in your words. You generalize to the point of stupidity. Your post would go a long way if you said "Islamic separatist group" instead of the racist "Muslim" term you decide to dirty up
here ya go....
http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/asg.html
should keep your disturbed mind busy for awhile
how do you expect someone to like your kind or your country.its you being a dick to the people around your neighborhood calling them names and insulting there country
oh, just like names and things Muslims are using to describe Christians who are unfortunate enough to be citizens of a Muslim country....right?
roadlesstraveled: Since the birth of Islamic cult, followers of the cult always had disturbed mind.
They never contributed much positive to any place, society, nation or world.
As pulsar has mentioned, many Muslims, liabilities and curses on earth, can do whatever they like.
But when it comes to those affected by the bigoted and barbaric seventh century desert Islamic beasts, one has so many lines drawn around them.
What are some Muslims imagining themselves?
They are hating and killing each other, blowing up mosques tearing their very Quran to pieces.
House of Saud is even tearing/blowing up mosques in Mecca and Medina which he considers are of not right type!
For this very reason, where even so-called "moderate", "sane", "aziz"s, who don't try to reform the Islamic religion to move with times, Allahs prediction of end of Islam may come true sooner than expected.
Muslims need to do some research on what Allah has mentioned.
jonathan... I am not a muslin and I spite islam for the reason you mentioned and far worse., but you can't put all muslims in a grinder and mix them as one.your assessment of saudi arabia is correct and I agree that they are the mother of all terrorists.But can you explain why u.s government is selling them 100s of billion dollars worth of fighter jets and millitary good. the saudi as you know support and pay alqueda, wahabis, jihadis, salafis and more terrorists groups. as a matter of fact most of the so called free syrian army are from these terrorists groups who get paid by saudi and qataris, but yet u.s government has just approved 60 million dollar worth of aid to them. as far as muslim never contributed anything to the sosciety, iran although not an arab country, but it is a muslim country had contributed alot to the world. I urge you to read this link. although many items are not realy contribution, but a lot of them are...http://www.iran-heritage.org/interestgroups/history-article3.htm
Great job! I am happy for him.
Agree!
But he can't make much difference in the Islamic hating and killing fields of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He looks so delighted!
It's his first time on an airplane, and I think that's about an 18 hour trip from Afghanistan to the United States, too. I've flown across the Pacific many times when I was in the military. It's a long trip with holdovers in Japan and Hawaii or Alaska.
I am so happy for him. The video of him finding out that the film was being nominated was so touching, it made me cry as he fought back tears. Lovely boy, and I am sure there are so many more struggling just to live.
Of course the Taliban will put his head on a stick when he gets home.
He will be shot in the head by the Taliban, like they did to Malali the 14 year old girl who wanted to grow up and be a doctor. The Taliban are probably harassing the widowed mother and 6 other siblings as we speak now,,
I think our best boys over there will keep an extra eye out for the family. The Taliban are nothing but thugs and terrorist, its time the Afghan people stood up to them and took them out once and for all.
Of course the Taliban will put his head on a stick when he gets home.
Any appreciation in the West means "death for the agent of Satan."
The Islamic extremist Frankenstein monsters have started backstabbing big time the inventers of Pakistan, British, and the masters (US and allies) who kept them alive.
In most of the Islamic terrorism and plots in the US, Britain, Europe and other places, Pakis have a hand.
Half of NATO forces deaths in Afghanistan are due to Pakis.
Before followers of Islamic cult set their feet on Afghan and Paki regions, these regions were quite peaceful and prosperous.
Once the cancer of Islam gradually got control of the region, those regions have become raping, stealing, looting and killing fields.
In Afghanistan, Paki proxies Taliban did not even tolerate Buddha’s statue in Bamiyan.
Many Paki areas and some Afghan areas have become breeding and exporting centers for illegal activities including drugs growing and trading and export of Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world.
British invented Pakistan in 47 and Pakistan is supposed to be a pure Islamic nation. In Pakistan, it was massive genocides of minorities in between 48-50.
Percentages of Hindus and Sikhs were reduced from about 24 percent less than three years by rapes, stealing, lootings, terrorizing and killing on a massive scale.
Paki Islamic religious madness did not end there.
Sunni Pakis are after Ahmedias, Sufis (fake love and dance Islamic soap opera people), Shiites (20 percent), Hazaras, and Baloochs and other minority sects/tribes.
Shiites, Sufis, Ahmedias and other minority sects/tribes people are blown up while they pray in their mosques on Fridays. And even hospitals are bombed to kill those injured.
Polio workers are killed; those working in hospitals are blown up and there are riotings and killings at the drop of a hat like Quran burning, video on Mohammed!
Can you guess the next targets of Islamic heroin addicts?
Hopefully this will be an "open door" for him to explore the world and many more opporutnities for him.
Why would people go into an active war zone to make a film about an indigenous sport? Could they not wait until the smoke cleared? Seems dangerous for a bunch of Americans to go there for non-military reasons. I've seen what they've done to our aid workers and contractors.
Sometimes people need a reminder that there is life still going on aside from the difficulties of a war.
He will be pissed when he finds out how little he was paid.
Maybe, but to an impoverished Afghani, that amount is worth at least 10 Rolex Watches to him. He struggles every day just to survive.
Besides, if he wins this, it's going to be a stepping stone. Not to mention when people meet him, that's a talent scout's heaven. He'll obviously meet all kinds of people and see all kinds of things he never would have seen had he not been paid that "small" amount. In my humble and honest opinion, that was basically an act of good will that may one day make him ascend to a status beyond that lame @!$%# Bieber.
That money and role was a key that opens up possibilities - now he just has to take it, run with it, and use it well.
To Fawad: You've been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Never forget the man who made it possible, but also remember that you have a chance - a chance to make it big in your nation, here, and worldwide. Listen not to the haters that think you're just another nutjob Afghani - they are but haters, and hating is what they do. It's all they can do.
Best of luck to you, man. Hope you win it big at the Oscars.
Mnay are making big money by growing drugs and exporting them.
Kidnapping is another good money fetching business!
This is such a great story.
Most people have no idea what it is like to live with a tribe in a small village.
I hope his luck continues and another story be told about how an American director changed his life forever.
This is such a great story.
Most people have no idea what it is like to live with a tribe in a small village.
I hope his luck continues and another story told about how an American director changed his life forever.
I do hope that this is the beginning of a good beginning for him.
How dose he get a visa and so Quick what a B.S.
There are different categories of Visas and there is one specifically for artists to travel for engagement purposes. Look it up on State Department's website. There are Visas for many other reasons than to visit Disney World.
The Afghan economy is about 1 % the family income level of ours. His $1,500 would compare to $150,000 here; not bad for a short film. I hope, though, that somebody is picking up his expenses for the trip. There are great people everywhere -- especially kids. I wish him a better life than most Afghans have, but I'd wish them all that.
What a discovery! People in Afghanistan have hopes and feelings too (Just like us). This young man is a gift to all of us.
i read some of the comments above, about other countries, visa speeds...and i think to myself -- REALLY?
a young man is given a chance, works in a movie, and now is getting rewarded with a short trip , exciting for him and a chance to see the world in a way he has not seen...
And people take the time to sh*t on his country, to complain that his brief visit is in any way comparable to a visa (c'mon, it's clearly not)...
Jeez...if you cannot just be happy for this boy, and encourage his joy --- then just go away and be unhappy, angry, jealous and rude someplace else.
This is yet another aren't-we-great-we're-the-Oscars-for-caring-about-the-world's-poor "Slumdog Millionaire" much ado about nothing. Anybody know whatever became of the people in "Slumdog Millionaire"? Me either.
yeah, they went on to make The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Take your bitter "I hate Hollywood liberals" ass out for walk in the sunlight once and while and you'll see that, unlike you, people there actually do good things for others around the world.
Hahahahahaha That's awesome - Tuxster just got face palmed.
Happy for him..
Congratulations to this young man. Nice to have him in the United States!
I am so very happy for you young man. Good luck.. welcome to America..
Congrats Fawad! Hope to see you at the Oscars with Inocente, up for documentary short. From the streets of America to Hollywood www.inocentedoc.com. Two great stories!!!!
Aljazeera did a short interview and story on him, and he seems just like you'd imagine....an overly excited, happy till he cried, "I can't believe this is real" teenager. I wish him the best of luck, and congratulations to him also! His life is now forever changed, and I agree with meeroon....welcome to America.
i can't believe some of these peoples comments.not every person is a racist,or killer.any way i am so happy for you fawad,dreams do come true.if your reading this,go to Disneyland.you will have so much fun.god bless you
This Afghan boy's case is taking one instance from the dirtiest Islamic swamp on earth and make a big news out of it.
No wonder: US, British and allies could not understand who is the enemy and who is friend.
In Afghanistan, Pakis have backstabbed the US and NATO forces big time. Half of NATO forces deaths are due to ungrateful and backstabbing Pakis.
When the NATO forces were entering Kandahar in 2001, Pakis airlifted key al-Qaida, Taliban, ISI and others militants by back door from Kandahar.
This includes Mullah Omar, Osama and many including Paki Haqqani militant network leaders.
Hope people remember about Pakis sheltering Osama.
These Paki Islamic religious Nazis don't bother about their people and they are into reckless killing games in the name of jihad.
Afghan war and the big mess associated with it is an example of: if you don't know who your friends and enemies are, then you don't know what you are getting into.
It is great. Well done Mohammadi. Best of luck.