I chose to watch this film as I have recently been getting into Iranian cinema, specifically Kiaorastami of course. Samira Makhmalbaf’s Blackboards is told in a similar style, one that I now assume is typical of this generation of Iranian filmmakers. It is somewhat hard to describe but a sort of humanist approach to what the camera is pointed at.
The use of handheld camera, “lofi” equipment, repetitive dialogue… create a sense of authenticity. The simple/ almost non existent story (feels like you are just following happening events rather than being dragged through a thorough thought out narriative) lets the situations the characters or rather humans find themselves in reveal the complexities of life.
The story is told from two perspectives through two teachers or rather the blackboards they carry. Desperate for work they split and find two equally uninterested groups of refugees, some old and ill men looking for their village and some child contraband mules . They move from situation to situation the boards being used to teach, carry, shield etc. but is there any point/use?
Interestingly the story told mostly through men and boys is contextualy significant. Makhmalbaf uses the male voice to present her point of view – one of a young Iranian woman. Her feminism is especially apparent in the subversion of the accusmatic voice (one that is heard but not seen). By hiding the male body she challenges not only religious and patriarchal notions in Iran and the wider world, but also critiques art where womens voices are not heard both as subject and maker.
This effect is similar to one used in the short film Gaze (2017) by Farnoosh Samadi (also Iranian) where a woman traveling home at night deals with the decision to and the consequences of speaking up. The acousmatic sound of the motorcycle represents the the threat of male violence.