Blackboards (2000)

Itinerant Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, look for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. Said falls in with a ... See full summary »

Director:

Samira Makhmalbaf

Writers:

Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf

Stars:

Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari, Bahman Ghobadi

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Said Mohamadi	...	Said
Behnaz Jafari	...	Halaleh
Bahman Ghobadi	...	Reeboir
Mohamad Karim Rahmati	...	Father
Rafat Moradi	...	Ribvar
Mayas Rostami	...	Young boy storyteller
Saman Akbari	...	Group leader
Ahmad Bahrami	...	Marriage registrar
Mohamad Moradi	...	Match maker
Karim Moradi	...	Old man
Hassan Mohamadi	...	Child
Rasool Mohamadi	...	The boy porter
Somaye Veisee	...	Little girl

Storyline

Itinerant Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, look for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. Said falls in with a group of old men looking for their bombed-out village; he offers to guide them, and takes as his wife Halaleh, the clan's lone woman, a widow with a young son. Reeboir attaches himself to a dozen pre-teen boys weighed down by contraband they carry across the border; they're mules, always on the move. Said and Reeboir try to teach as their potential students keep walking. Danger is close; armed soldiers patrol the skies, the roads, and the border. Is there a role for a teacher? Is there hope?

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Plot Keywords:

border | village | teacher | widow | contraband | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Iran Italy Japan

Language:

Persian Kurdish

Release Date:

1 September 2000 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Blackboards

Filming Locations:

Kurdistan, Iran

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,416, 8 December 2002

Gross USA:

$23,520

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$41,772

Company Credits

Production Co:

Makhmalbaf Productions, Fabrica, Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Halaleh: [to Said] My heart is like a train. At every station, someone gets on or off. But there is someone who never gets off. My son.

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Connections

Featured in How Samira Made the Blackboards (2000)

User Reviews

Brilliant ending, but it's long way...

It must hard to talk about ignorance, poverty and war without being realistic. I reckon that, most of everything, this film is "realistic". It is undeniable that the settings, the characters and the issues belong to the director's background. She's been able to give "a hint of poetry" thanks to several touching and clever shots (For instance: A family that finds protection under a blackboard). I'm afraid that this film looses part of its potential because of its hybrid nature. It's not a drama, but it's not a documentary either. There are few stories crossing each other, but it is not complex enough to consider it a "Magnolia-style" thing. Finally (and this is what the film seems to be about), there's a teacher who dreams to heal his country with education but ends up facing the bitterness of a failed relationship. Nevertheless I truly appreciated the very last scene, that is worth 2 points in my final vote.

Iacopo Destefani