It may be a much-loved international bestseller now but the initial response to Khaled Hosseini’s novel ‘’The Kite Runner’’ was somewhat lukewarm. One of the first people to recognise the book’s power and potential appeal, however, was Rebecca Yeldham, the Australian-born producer of the film adaptation, written by David Benioff (‘’25th Hour’’) and directed by Marc Forster (‘’Monster’s Ball’’). Yeldham, whose credits include ‘’The Motorcycle Diaries’’, had just entered into a partnership with veteran film producer William Horburg and Hollywood studio DreamWorks when she approached by a New York literary agent who had connected strongly with the story of two childhood friends in 1970s Afghanistan.

“There was something about the way he described the story,” says Yeldham. “It was a very emotional presentation; it wasn’t just a cold pitch. It clearly affected him very deeply. He was talking about its themes and its scope, and it seemed like the kind of story that many of the filmmakers I had worked with and wanted to work with would respond to. I had the agent send it to me and I read it in one sitting, tears pouring down my face.”
It was a year or so after its first publication that ‘’The Kite Runner’’ found its audience, at which point “it hit the bestseller lists and stayed there for four years,” says Yeldham. “What I love about the story – and what’s been confirmed in the many years of developing the project and working with Afghan-American communities and people in Kabul – is that the story is very true, very specifically rooted in that culture and society, and the Afghans feel that it is their story. They have a very passionate reaction and connection to the story, and yet it is obviously connecting internationally, universally, with its themes. It’s a bestseller in Brazil, Israel, Italy, Japan. Readers all over the world have really found in the characters and their relationships something very personal to them. I’ve found that readers of the book have a very proprietary relationship with it because it speaks to them in a very personal way. That’s what we have sought to achieve in our adaptation, that same kind of personal connection with an audience.”

Any film requires a fair degree of cultural sensitivity but given the current state of global affairs it goes without saying that an Afghanistan-set story would require an especially diligent and delicate approach. “There’s a greater pressure to render the story with sensitivity and care because of the story and the world it’s rooted in,” says Yeldham, who collaborated closely with Hosseini and scores of Afghan sources and organisations to ensure that the film would be accurate and authentic in its depiction of The Kite Runner’s time, place and events. “It impacted on everything, even down to the way an actor would hold a cup of tea.”

Nevertheless, controversy has arisen from a pivotal scene in the film in which one of the young friends, a member of the Hazara race, is raped by an older member of the Pashtun group. While the act is not presented in a graphic manner, it has led to concerns that the young actors in the film might be targeted or threatened with violence by Afghans displeased with the scene. There have been reports that one of the boys’ fathers said: “We won’t be able to walk in our neighbourhood, or in Afghanistan at all.”

Keen to dispel what she called “misinformation”, Yeldham said that after the young actor’s father voiced his concerns DreamWorks and its production partner Paramount Pictures undertook an investigation of the situation in Kabul and determined that there may be repercussions stemming from the scene. “It’s never been clear what the risk might be but the studio took the position that any risk was grave enough,” she says. So a proposal was put forward that gave the actors and their families the chance to relocate to the United Arab Emirates, where the boys would be schooled and their families provided with housing and employment opportunities. “That’s where they are right now,” says Yeldham. “It’s not clear how long they’ll be there – provisions have been made for this year, and if they like it and want to stay the studio is prepared to support the kids right through their high school education. We’ll continue to monitor what happens; if they want to go home, and it feels safe for them to go home, then they’ll go home.”

The Kite Runner opens in cinemas January 17.

- GUY DAVIS