Drawing on elements from contemporary history and timeless mythology, Blackboards is a tragicomedy set in the mountains that separate Iran and Iraq. The film follows two teachers who, in a desolate setting riven with violence, travel through destroyed villages and isolated communities to educate children, all the while carrying a blackboard on their backs. Along their journey, the two meet several groups of children, each enduring, in different ways, the consequences of war. The film, considered a jewel of Iranian cinema, won the Jury Prize at Cannes.