Not a bad effort for a 20 - year old, even when considering that her father is a (locally) famous director, though I would question that it warranted the attention it got here in France. The film starts off with very memorable images of a band of teachers wandering through the rough terrain of the Iranian borderland, in search of prospective pupils, with their blackboards tied to their backs. A great starting point for the film, but unfortunately from there on it increasingly meanders through the plot, stretching some plot elements beyond the tolerance of even a forgiving "alternative cinema" audience -- half as long would probably have meant twice as good. Still, I haven't seen many movies from this part of the world, or made in this style, so overall it made for a good cinematic experience.
Review of Blackboards
