Le tableau noir

Just as in her widely praised début film The Apple, in which she has a family act out their own history, in her latest film Samira Makhmalbaf uses non-professional actors. The subject is however more daring: the fate of Kurdish refugees in Northern Iran.A group of teachers crisscrosses the dangerous and inhospitable border area between Iran and Iraq, looking for pupils. They are carrying their blackboards on their backs. Because as a group they are too conspicuous for the Army helicopters that patrol above the region, two of them, Said and Reeboir, decide to set off on their own. They cover their blackboards with mud to make them less conspicuous from the air. On his way, Said comes across a group of old men. They have been fleeing the violence for a long time and are completely exhausted. One of them, travelling with his daughter and grandson, is very ill. Said decides to marry the daughter; his blackboard serves as dowry. Reeboir meets a group of kids who are marked by the heavy work they do: on their backs they carry things over the high mountain passes across the border. Reeboir tries to convince the kids that they should learn to read and write, but they can’t see the point. Said also meets resistance from the refugees he encounters. In this barren area, survival is more important than reading and writing. Yet the teachers carry on untiringly, even when they are shot at by soldiers. The blackboards again prove their worth.