Making a Rom‑Com in Kabul: The Challenges and Risks Behind ‘No Good Men’

Making a Rom‑Com in Kabul: Why the Story Behind No Good Men Matters

Hook: Audiences want fast, verified stories — but they also want context. When a German‑backed rom‑com set in pre‑Taliban Kabul opens the 2026 Berlinale, the headlines are simple: festival slot, director Shahrbanoo Sadat, and a newsroom romance. The deeper story — how you actually build a film like No Good Men under the twin pressures of logistics and ethics — is far more complex, and tells us as much about global filmmaking today as the film itself.

Quick summary (inverted pyramid):

• No Good Men is set in a Kabul newsroom during Afghanistan’s democratic era and will open the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 12 as a Berlinale Special Gala.
• The production is German‑backed, reflecting the growing role of European co‑production in financing films from volatile regions.
• This piece unpacks four production pillars: logistics, safety, funding, and creative ethics — with practical steps for filmmakers and funders.

Why production realities deserve the spotlight

Film headlines celebrate premieres and awards. Few people read beyond why and how a film was made — especially when it depicts a place now under a regime that restricts art and movement. That gap fuels misinformation and leaves audiences without context. For journalists, festival programmers and viewers who care about authenticity, the logistics behind films such as No Good Men reveal the compromises and choices that shape what we see on screen.

The four production pillars behind No Good Men

1. Logistics: shooting a historical Kabul without returning to Kabul

Productions set in conflict‑affected cities face a basic question: where do you physically film? For movies about pre‑2021 Kabul, crews have three main approaches — each with tradeoffs.

• On location (rare and high risk): Shooting in Afghanistan after 2021 is logistically and legally fraught. Work visas, local clearances and the safety of Afghan cast and crew make on‑the‑ground shoots exceptional and usually involve heavy specialist support.
• Stand‑ins and diaspora communities: Many productions recreate Kabul scenes in neighboring countries or in cities with sizable Afghan diasporas, hiring local talent to populate sets and streets. This preserves human authenticity while avoiding in‑country risk.
• Studio builds, VFX and virtual production: By 2026, virtual production and LED volume stages have become standard tools for recreating urban interiors and exteriors. They let directors control environment, light and crowd density — crucial for intimate newsroom stories.

Each choice shapes authenticity: background extras, signage, ambient sounds and even the weight of dust on camera lenses matter. Craft departments and cultural consultants are now indispensable.

2. Safety and risk management: protecting people, data and stories

Safety planning in 2026 is more than bodyguards. Productions now layer physical security with digital risk controls and post‑production privacy protocols — especially when cast, crew or real‑life inspirations still live under regimes that criminalize perceived dissent.

• Security assessments: Before any decision, producers commission security audits. These evaluate physical threat levels, evacuation routes, medical access and local political dynamics.
• Data security: Scripts, casting lists and production footage are a new kind of risk. Use end‑to‑end encrypted communications (e.g., Signal for messaging) and make sure cloud backups are hosted under jurisdictions with strong legal protections. In 2026, productions increasingly use ephemeral project servers and strict access controls.
• Protecting Afghan collaborators: Hiring Afghan cast, writers or fixers can endanger them if their involvement is publicized. Producers must offer relocation planning, legal aid, or redact names in publicity when necessary; practical relocation or emergency-documentation guidance such as emergency passport help can be part of that package.
• Insurance and indemnity: Specialist insurers that underwrite high‑risk shoots now exist, but premiums have risen since 2021. Budgets must account for security teams, evacuation insurance and kidnap‑and‑ransom coverage where appropriate.

3. Funding: German backers and the era of layered co‑production

No Good Men is described as German‑backed, a pattern that underscores the role of European finance and festival ecosystems in enabling films from crisis regions. Since late 2025, funders have shifted toward risk‑aware models that combine public money, festival support and NGO backing.

Key pathways that producers pursue today:

• European co‑productions: Funds and broadcasters in Germany, France and the Nordics frequently partner on projects from Afghanistan. These partners offer both finance and distribution access to festivals such as Berlinale.
• Festival co‑production markets: The Berlinale Co‑Production Market remains a major matchmaker, helping projects secure international partners who can handle insurance, post‑production and sales. Teams preparing pitch materials may benefit from guides like transmedia pitch decks and festival-facing materials.
• Philanthropic & NGO support: Foundations and institutes that support journalism, cultural preservation and refugee storytelling increasingly seed projects — a trend that accelerated in 2024–2026 as donor priorities shifted toward narrative agency for displaced communities.
• Hybrid financing: Producers now layer equity, grants, soft loans and pre‑sales. Transparency about money flow has become a trust signal for ethical storytelling.

4. Creative ethics: portraying pre‑Taliban Kabul responsibly

Ethics are central to how a film frames a city that millions cannot safely return to. Representation choices matter beyond aesthetics: they affect how history is remembered and how audiences empathize.

• Avoiding nostalgia as erasure: There's a fine line between honoring pre‑2021 urban life and erasing ongoing suffering. Ethical filmmakers contextualize scenes of normalcy with acknowledgment of the broader political arc and the continuing lives of Afghans in exile.
• Community consultation: Producers should engage Afghan historians, journalists and civil society groups in scripting and design. Their input catches anachronisms, avoids stereotypes and centers lived experience.
• Consent and compensation: When stories draw on real people or real newsroom events, securing consent or anonymizing sources is both moral and legal commonsense.
• Narrative agency: Let Afghan characters make choices. Films written about Afghan lives but directed or narrated solely through external perspectives risk reproducing colonial gazes. As AI tools become more common, productions must address use — see discussions about AI assistants and privacy and how those technologies affect consent around likenesses.

“Making a film about a place you cannot safely visit imposes a duty: to be rigorous about who you lift up, who you leave out, and how you shield those involved.”

Practical, actionable advice for filmmakers and producers

Below is a compact production playbook based on 2026 practices. These steps are actionable whether you’re an indie director, a festival acquisitions editor or a funder deciding which projects to back.

Pre‑production checklist

• Commission an independent security and legal assessment before script lock.
• Engage at least two local cultural consultants and pay them as co‑creatives.
• Create a digital risk protocol: encrypted comms, limited access to raw footage, and a data retention policy; treat masters like high‑value assets and plan hosting (see hosting and ops playbooks such as devops & hosting guides).
• Map diaspora talent pools and secure contingency contracts for relocation or anonymized credits.
• Budget for specialist insurance, security personnel, and emergency evacuation funds.

Production tactics

• Use virtual production for high‑control interior scenes (newsroom, apartments) to reduce street shooting needs.
• Shoot exterior establishing shots in safe stand‑in locations and intersperse them with archival footage (properly licensed) to anchor authenticity; when sourcing material, follow best practices for attribution and verification like those used for primary-source media (using primary sources responsibly).
• Set up an independent grievance and safety officer for cast/crew, staffed by someone with legal training and cultural competence.
• Keep casting calls and call sheets discrete for collaborators at risk; use pseudonyms in public materials if necessary.

Post‑production & distribution

• Secure GDPR‑compliant hosting for masters and control access via watermarking and rights management. Operational playbooks — from resilient frontends to hosting strategies — can help (see edge-powered hosting approaches).
• Consider staggered publicity: festival premieres often require different disclosure strategies than commercial releases to protect contributors.
• Plan a public engagement campaign that includes Afghan voices — panels, op‑eds, and community screenings in diaspora centers. For planners building outreach and pop‑up screenings, see community pop‑up playbooks such as pop‑up and micro‑festival guides.

Funding sources and partnerships to pursue in 2026

For producers seeking backing, the landscape in 2026 favors layered support. Start with festival markets and public funders, but build NGO relationships early.

• European co‑production partners and national film funds (the Berlinale co‑production market is a key gateway).
• International cultural grants and philanthropic foundations that prioritize migration and human rights storytelling.
• Lab and residency support from institutions that now emphasize safety and ethical practice (creative labs at major festivals provide both cash and mentorship).
• Pre‑sale agreements with art‑house distributors and streaming platforms that showcase world cinema and are willing to underwrite risk premia.

Ethics in practice: three case scenarios

How do ethics play out in real decisions? Here are three condensed scenarios and recommended responses.

Scenario A: A journalist who inspired a character is still in Afghanistan

Recommendation: Obtain informed consent where possible; otherwise anonymize and change identifying details. Fund relocation or legal aid if participation risks safety.

Scenario B: Local extras could face reprisal

Recommendation: Hire diaspora performers, or use crowd replication techniques (VFX multiplane, body doubles) and avoid publishing identifying images of at‑risk individuals.

Scenario C: An archival clip shows a sensitive news report

Recommendation: License footage when possible. If not obtainable, recreate responsibly and clearly communicate the reconstruction in press notes to avoid misinforming audiences.

Festival context: Berlinale and the political life of premieres

That Berlinale chose No Good Men to open its 2026 festival is significant. Festivals are not neutral; they set cultural frames. In the post‑2021 era, European festivals have increasingly curated films that foreground displacement and memory. Opening night amplifies a film’s platform — and therefore, the moral duty to ensure contributors are protected and credited.

Trends and future predictions (2026 outlook)

• More hybrid productions: Expect continued reliance on virtual production and diasporic stand‑ins for films about inaccessible places.
• Stricter ethical standards: Funders and festivals will demand detailed safety and ethical plans as part of grant applications.
• Data sovereignty concerns: As AI tools proliferate, productions will need clearer consent around likenesses and the use of AI to recreate voices or faces.
• Diaspora audiences as primary stakeholders: Filmmakers will increasingly test screenings with displaced communities to validate narratives and reduce harm.

What journalists and audiences should ask

When you see coverage of films like No Good Men, ask practical questions that reveal responsible practice:

• Who are the local consultants and what role did they play?
• Were Afghan contributors offered protection if public crediting endangered them?
• How was archival material sourced and licensed?
• Which organizations funded the project and what conditions did they set?

Final takeaways

Making a rom‑com set in pre‑Taliban Kabul is not an act of nostalgia; it’s a logistical and ethical endeavor that requires layered funding, rigorous risk management and deep community engagement. The engineering behind No Good Men — from virtual production tactics to diaspora casting and encrypted communication — is as much a part of its story as its plot.

For creators: build safety and ethics into budgets, not as afterthoughts. For funders: insist on transparent plans and community consultation. For audiences: demand context and uplift the voices most affected by the stories you watch.

Call to action

Follow our Berlinale coverage for an inside look at how festival premieres are made — and share this piece with filmmakers or funders who need a practical risk and ethics checklist. If you’re a producer working on films from conflict zones, submit your production questions to our newsroom and we'll turn community concerns into practical guides.

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