For her second film, Samira Makhmalbaf, daughter of Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, follows the desperate plight of a group of nomadic teachers who travel the mountainous Kurdistan region of Iran searching for students. With scarce food or water and landmines and gunfire from Iraqi soldiers a constant threat, the teachers trudge on with their blackboards on their backs, determined to educate in the face of desolation. A truly beautiful film, Blackboards won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.