BLACKBOARDS

DIRECTION : Samira Makhmalbaf

SCREENPLAY:Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf

84 min., Color, 2000, 35mm, Kurdish w/English Subtitles

CAST: Bahman Ghobadi, Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari

A group of male teachers cross the mountainous paths of the remote Iranian Kurdistan region. Carrying large blackboards on their backs, they wander from village to village in search of students, but everyone is too busy struggling to survive and no one wants to learn. One teacher ventures away from the group and meets up with a group of boys carrying contraband across the border. Another teacher comes upon a group of old refugees who want to return to their village in Kurdistan which was chemically attacked by the Iraquis. The teachers face other hardships and obstacles including unseen enemy helicopters and gunfire.

From the Director of "The Apple"
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize Cannes Film Festival

"An indelible and ultimatley moving vision of humanity"
-Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES

"Samira Makhmalbaf spins artlessness into art - her movie yields pathos, abusrdity and humor.....as well as something rare- an eye-opening strangeness"
-Karin Durbin, NEW YORK TIMES

**** (4 stars)
-David Steritt, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

"Bold and provocative...Makhmalbaf has directed an often suspenseful drama that builds to a frightening climax"
-David Stratton, VARIETY