BLACKBOARDS (TAKHTE SIAH) International Competition

Twenty-year-old Samira Makhmalbaf co-wrote her second feature with her filmmaker father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who also edited. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes, BLACKBOARDS is a daring and provocative account of the struggle for survival on the Iran-Iraq border.

Disenfranchised teachers carry blackboards through mountainous Kurdistan in search of people to educate. Trying to evade the border patrol helicopters, the teachers split up. Reeboir comes across a group of teenagers furtively seeking a way across the border, whose experiences lead them to resist his efforts to convince them of the value of a traditional education. Meanwhile, Said meets a group of elders on a seemingly doomed search for their homeland. The ever-present threat of the border patrol provides suspense as the drama builds to a frightening climax for both groups.

With memorable characters and Ebrahim Ghafori’s arresting cinematography, BLACKBOARDS is an ambitious and accomplished story from a promising young filmmaker.