Monday, July 14, 2014

Blackboards [تخته سیاه] (dir: Samira Makhmalbaf) - (2000) Iranian Film Poster

Blackboards [takhte-ye siah] (2000) - (dir: Samir Makhmalbaf) Iranian Film Poster

This is a 26.5" x 38" Iranian poster designed to promote the 2000 Samira Makhmalbaf film Blackboards [takhte-ye siah] directed by Samira Makhmalbaf based on a story by Mohsen and Samira Makhmalbaf with cinematography by Ebrahim Ghafori. Plot summary: Some teachers carrying blackboards on their backs are looking for students in the mountains of Kordestan near the Iraqi border, but they do not find anyone. Everyone tries to hide when they hear helicopters. They smear mud on their blackboards for camouflage and hide under them, separating from each other. Only Said [Said Mohamadi] and Reeboir [Bahman Ghobadi] stay together, but this does not last. Reeboir goes up on the mountain and Said heads for the village. On the way Said meets an old man carrying a letter from his prisoner-of-war son as well as an old woman. On the mountain Reeboir meets some young boys who are all carrying wrapped parcels on their backs. Reeboir talks to them about the importance of reading and writing but these children from Iraq on the other side of the border are carrying smuggled goods and pay no attention to what he says. Said then encounters some old men with a woman named Halaleh [Behnaz Jafari] and her young child. Said tries to encourage them to learn to read and write but they pay no attention to this; they say they are refugees looking for the border. Said agrees to show them where the border is in exchange for a few walnuts. Halaleh, whose husband has died, also agrees to marry Said in exchange for his blackboard as a bride price. After they marry, Halaleh does not pay the slightest attention to her husband and Said's efforts to teach her to read and write are useless. Reeboir continues to talk to the children about learning to read and write. The children and the old men all run when they hear soldiers at the border shooting. The children try to hide among their sheep, but some of them are killed. Said takes the old men close to the border. They ask Said to stay with them, but he does not agree; he divorces Halaleh before leaving and leaves the blackboard with her.

Cast and crew: Samira Makhmalbaf, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Said Mohamadi, Ebrahim Ghafori, Behnaz Jafari, Bahman Ghobadi, Mohamad Karim Rahmati, Rafat Moradi, Mayas Rostami, Saman Akbari, Ahmad Bahrami, Mohamad Moradi, Karim Moradi, Hassan Mohamadi, Rasool Mohamadi, Somaye Veisee





Watch Meysam's English documentary about Samira and the Making of Blackboards



Visit the Movie Poster Page!


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