"Blackboard", by Samira Makhmalbaf screened at Campo Alegre

Blackboards is an Iranian film directed by young Samira Makhmalbaf, in 2000. The screenplay was co-written by Makhmalbaf with her father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It will be screened at Campo Alegre, February 25th at 6:30 pm. 

The plot focuses on nomadic Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, looking for children, potential students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. The dialogues are entirely in Kurdish.

Makhmalbaf defines it as "something between reality and fiction. Smuggling, being homeless, and people's efforts to survive are all part of reality... the film, as a whole, is a metaphor."

The film was an international co-production between Iran, Italy and Japan.

Samira Makhmalbaf is an internationally acclaimed Iranian director and script writer and she was the youngest filmmaker to be selected for the prestigious International Cannes Film Festival.