After the chemical bombing of Halabcheh in Iraq a number of Kurd refugee teachers seek for pupils who are willing to educate around the border as they carry their blackboards like Jesus' crosses. One of them encounters a group of teenage smugglers and tries to convince them to educate as they carry their heavy backpacks full of smuggled stuff. The other teacher encounters a group of old and tired men, whom after years of migration are going to their own country to die there. But it seems that hunger and insecurity has not left and chance for the education of the generations.


Directed by : Samira MAKHMALBAF
Language: Farsi with English subtitles

Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Script: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf
Director of Photography: Ebrahim Ghafouri
Sound: Behrouz Shahamat
Music: Mohammad Reza Darvishi
Edit: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Executive Manager: Mohammad Ahmadi
Assistants of Director: Mojtaba Mirtahmaseb, Marziyeh Meshkini, Kaveh Moeinfar
Still Photography & Behind the scene: Maysam Makhmalbaf
Assistant of Exc. manager: Abbas Saghari Saz
Assistant of Cinematography: Hossein Amiri, Majid Ghafari
Assistant of Sound Recorder: Hassan Serajiyan
Assistant of Mix: Akbar Meshkini

Cast:
Saeid Mohammadi
Behnaz Jaffari
Mohammad Karim Rahmati
Rafat Moradi
Hayas Rostami
Saman Akbari
Ahmad Bahrami
Mohammad Moradi
Karim Moradi
Hassan Mohammadi
Rasol Mohammadi
Somaeh Veysi

Production: Makhmalbaf Film House, 1999
International Sales: Wild Bunch (France)

Festivals:
1) Cannes Film Festival (in official Competion), France 2000.
2) Munich Film Festival, Germany 2000.
3) Moscow Film Festival, Russia 2000.
4) Melbourne Film Festival, Australia 2000.
5) Montreal Film Festival, Canada 2000.
6) Rio De Janeiro Film Festival, Brazil 2000.
7) Toronto Film Festival, Canada 2000.
8) Warsaw Film Festival, Poland 2000.
9) Pusan Film Festival, South Korea 2000.
10) Flanders Gent Film Festival, Belgium 2000.
11) A.F.I (Los Angeles), USA 2000
12) Sao Paolo Film Festival, Brazil 2000.
13) Jakarta Film Festival, Bangladesh 2000.
14) London Film Festival, UK 2000.
15) Iranian Film Festival in Museum of art in Boston, USA 2000.
16) Goteborg Film Festival, Sweden 2001.
17) Rotterdam Film Festival, Netherlands 2001.
18) Cinemateque in Sweden, Sweden 2001.
19) Beirut Film Festival, Lebanon 2001.
20) Nat Film Festival, Denmark 2001.
21) Buenos Aires Film Festival, Argentina 2001.
22) Jerusalem Film Festival, Israel 2001.
23) Boston Film Festival, USA 2001.
24) Cinemateket Film Festival, Scandinavia 2001.
25) Washington National Gallery, USA 2002.
26) Bratislava Film Festival, Slovakia 2002.
27) Belgerad Film Festival, Serbia and montenegro 2002.
28) Midnight Sun Film Festival, Finland 2004.
29) Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czech Republic 2004.
30) Cinefan Film Festival, India 2004.
31) Era New Horizons Film Festival, poland 2004.
32) One take Film Festival, Croatia 2004.
33) Lund University Film Society, Sweden 2005.

International Awards:
1. "Jury's prize", Official Competition section of Cannes Film Festival 2000, France.

2. "Federico Fillini Honor", UNESCO, Paris, 2000.

3. "Francois Truffaut prize", Giffoni Film Festival in Italy 2000.

4. "Giffoni's Mayor Prize ", Giffoni Film Festival, Italy, 2000.

5. "Special cultural Prize", UNESCO, paris, 2000.

6. "The grand Jury prize", American Film Institute, USA, 2000