Blackboards

Life threatening dangers were present throughout the shooting. The film was shot near the town of Halabcheh, a town in Iraq close to the Iranian border. There is a large area of land mines where the Iraqi government had laid chemical bombs in the past and never removed. The local villagers helped the film crew out by guiding them to the safer areas to walk.

Working so close to the Iran/Iraq border was also a constant threat to their safety (being only half a mile away), but necessary in capturing exactly the film Makhmalbaf was after. Reality and fiction have been mixed into the story but the director states that the homelessness and peoples efforts to survive are all part of reality.

Another obstacle, which had to be overcome, was the language barrier. The film is in Kurdish yet Makhmalbaf doesn't speak it herself. "Fortunately, the people of that region are bilingual. They talked to us in Farsi while they talked Kurdish among themselves. I told them what I wanted them to say in Farsi, and they would say it in Kurdish. I used two methods to control lines. One was by paying attention to the others' reactions when someone talked. The locals sometimes suggested alternative phrases for us. And sometimes, my local assistant controlled the Kurdish sentences spoken. During the production, I got to know Kurdish language to some extent. Now, I completely understand everything that is said in the film. More than anyone else, the actor in the leading role who played the old men's teacher helped me learn the language. He first joined us to help with the props, but gradually transformed into our leading man."

Neither of Makhmalbaf's films have been banned by local authorities as they are not thought of as political, they are more character based. They deal with human subject and the culture which surrounds these individuals. Through the draconian and taxing production of this unique film we are able to see how these ordinary people survive their malevolent world.

When speaking about the making of the film Makhmalbaf says, "You could call it a difficult film to make, but for me, it was kindness the audience showed me, my expectations of my own self rose. Like anyone else, I need people to love me and I want to keep my audience. Yet, my father says, that more than wishing for others to love you, you should love them. That is the way towards humanity."

At only 20 years old we can see this is going to be an exciting career for Makhmalbaf and she has become an important director in her own right following in the footsteps of her father, director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Fiona Fitzpatrick, Tyneside Cinema.

Samira is the daughter of the renowned filmmaker of the Iranian new wave, Mohsen Makhmalbaf (The Cyclist: 1989, Bread and Flower: 1996, The Silence: 1998). Throughout her childhood she has been surrounded by the world of cinema. At the age of eight she appeared in The Cyclist. She attended the family university and graduated with a Makhmalbaf "Master of film". Most of her family work in the film industry and so it was only natural that she too would become a director like her father. In 1998 she was the assistant director for her father for The Silence.

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