Even before the Taliban took over, Afghanistan was not generally celebrated for its national filmmaking prowess. As such, ‘‘Osama’’ — a pitch-black tale of despair and oppression — is momentous.

That's not to say that it signals the revival of Afghanistan's movie industry, but it does represent the first creative, uncensored voice to rise from the wreckage of that brutalized land in many years. Not surprisingly, the voice is bitter, wounded and not terribly hopeful. Set during the Taliban regime, it tells the story of a mortified 12-year-old girl (Marina Golbahari, in a stunning debut) who is forced to masquerade as a boy by her widowed mother and grandmother.

With no men around, it's the only way the family can earn a living, since the Taliban has barred women from the workplace and decreed them unfit to appear in public without an escort. The conditions are miserable and poisonous. ‘‘I wish God hadn't created women!’’ the mother wails. Desperation breeds foolishness when the women chop off the girl's hair, rename her ‘‘Osama,’’ swap out her burqa and send her to work for a family friend.

All goes well until Osama is swept up by al-Qaida recruiters and enrolled in an all-boys school to learn war making and fundamental Islam.

Anointed a ‘‘nymph’’ by one of the Taliban elders, Osama finds it increasingly difficult to hide her true identity. The consequences are unimaginable. Who knows what punishment the Taliban might mete out for such heresy? Directed by Iranian-trained filmmaker Siddiq Barmak, ‘‘Osama’’ is as rugged, severe and minimalistic as the conditions it depicts.

The images are striking in their simplicity, including a shot of dozens of burqa-clad women ambling down the street like faceless blue ghosts before being brutally dispersed by machine guns and water hoses. Like the films of Jafar Panahi (‘‘The White Balloons’’) and Mohsen Makhmalbaf (‘‘Kandahar’’), Barmak's movie is shot Iranian-style: Simple and unresolved, with an abrupt, unsutured ending.

Winner of the most recent Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film, ‘‘Osama’’ is sobering and undeniably powerful, but not — I say this knowing it sounds callous — particularly enlightening. Since Sept. 11, no horror attributed to the Taliban strains credulity — lives ruined, rights trampled, cruelties beyond those depicted here. The mystery for Afghans (and, hopefully, a topic for future films) is how they'll manage to hold on to their liberty with evil still skulking in the shadows.

‘Osama’
Starring: Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati, Zubaida Sahar Playing: Opens Friday at Harkins Camelview
Rating: PG-13 (mature thematic elements)
Running time: 82 minutes Grade: B