Blackboards

Two men walk the hills along the Iran-Iraq border with blackboards strapped to their backs, calling out for anyone who wants to learn. Said (Said Mohamadi) joins a band of old men searching for their bombed-out village, while Reeboir (Bahman Ghobadi) follows a dozen boys hauling contraband across the border. Samira Makhmalbaf sets their lessons against soldiers watching the roads and sky, and every pupil who keeps walking is a child who may never come back.