Tobacco & Movies:
Examples from Around the World
A project of Essential Action's Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control program

Flying with one Wing (Sri Lanka, 2003)

SENEGAL

Faat Kine (2001)
Directed by: Ousmane Sembene
In "Faat Kine", which features a strong, independent woman who runs a successful gas station in Dakar, smoking is used to symbolize modernity and female emancipation. Several scenes involve conversations related to smoking. In one, Faatu Kine's elderly mother chides her for smoking, reinforcing smoking as a modern woman's habit.
Read more about the movie

Karmen Gei (2001)
Directed by: Joseph Gaï Ramaka
Has Marlboro product placement.
Read more about the movie

SRI LANKA

Tani Tatuwen Piyabanna (Flying with one Wing) (2002)
Directed by: Asoka Handagama
“The film is full of scenes where smoking is glorified as a symbol of masculinity. In several occasions cigarettes are been pushed between the lips of the characters in a very unnatural and artificial manner. It is interesting to notice that all characters are smoking a particular brand of cigarettes (Gold Leaf) from the beginning to the end of the film," said a statement issued by the Chairman of the medical faculty’s Students Involved in Rational Health Action (SIRA). READ FULL REPORT

TAIWAN

Millenium Mambo (2001)
Directed by: Hou Hsiao Hsien
The film, which features a chain-smoking female, is one long advertisement for Marlboro Lights. The main character literally cannot eat her dinner without inhaling a Marlboro between bites. Marlboro product placement is rampant throughout. A film targeting Asian females?
See promo for the film (includes several smoking scenes)
Photos (many contain smoking)
Video clips