Blackboards

In the mountainous country of Iranian Kurdistan , a group of  itinerant teachers wend their way through a treacherous area in search of pupils.  They carry their blackboards on their backs and use them as shields when they need to hide from army helicopters. One teacher Said comes across a huge group of  nomads making their way back over the border into Iraq though they have lost their way. He offers to lead them in exchange for food. The other teacher , Reeboir meets a group of  children laborers ,each with a heavy load strapped to his back. Reeboir learns that they're smugglers . The screenplay was co-written by Makhmalbaf  with her father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf .  Like her father,  Samira has learned a respectful, intelligent way of storytelling.  But this film really pushes the slow-and-obtuse envelope. Its hard to have any feelings for the characters  : there is extremely little known about them, no development, they show no willingness to accomplish anything except trek across the next mountain and hide from unseen helicopters and soldiers.