Bringemovies
← Browse Movies
Blackboards
TITLE DETAILS

Blackboards

2000-09-01 · 85 min · ★ 6.7

Drama · History · War

Itinerant Kurdish teachers, carrying blackboards on their backs, look for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war. Said falls in with a group of old men looking for their bombed-out village; he offers to guide them, and takes as his wife Halaleh, the clan's lone woman, a widow with a young son. Reeboir attaches himself to a dozen pre-teen boys weighed down by contraband they carry across the border; they're mules, always on the move. Said and Reeboir try to teach as their potential students keep walking. Danger is close; armed soldiers patrol the skies, the roads, and the border. Is there a role for a teacher? Is there hope?

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Directors
Samira Makhmalbaf
Production companies
Fabrica, Makhmalbaf Film House Productions, RAI Cinema, T-Mark
Countries
Iran, Italy, Japan
Status
Released

Top Cast

Said MohamadiSaid
Behnaz JafariBehnaz JafariHalaleh
Bahman GhobadiBahman GhobadiRebwar
Mohamad Karim RahmatiFather
Rafat MoradiRibwar
Mayas RostamiYoung boy storyteller
Saman AkbariGroup leader
Ahmad BahramiAhmad BahramiMarriage registrar
Karim MoradiOld man
Hassan MohamadiChild
Rasool MohamadiThe boy porter
Somaye VeiseeLittle girl

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Availability not listed for this country.

Recommendations

Stop-Loss
★ 6.1
Stop-Loss2008Drama · War

A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.

The Last Rifleman
★ 6.6
The Last Rifleman2023Drama · History · War

A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.

Fort Bliss
★ 6.4
Fort Bliss2014Drama · War

After returning home from an extended tour in Afghanistan, a decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother struggles to rebuild her relationship with her young son.

Waiting for Anya
★ 6.3
Waiting for Anya2020Drama · War

During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.

A Private War
★ 6.8
A Private War2018Drama · War

One of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, Marie Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless.

An Ordinary Man
★ 6.2
An Ordinary Man2017Drama · War

A war criminal in hiding forms a relationship with his only connection to the outside world - his maid.

Belfast
★ 7.0
Belfast2021Drama · History

Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.

Pork Chop Hill
★ 6.7
Pork Chop Hill1959Drama · History · War

Korean War, April 1953. Lieutenant Clemons, leader of the King company of the United States Infantry, is ordered to recapture Pork Chop Hill, occupied by a powerful Chinese Army force, while, just seventy miles away, at nearby the village of Panmunjom, a tense cease-fire conference is celebrated.

Glory Road
★ 7.4
Glory Road2006Drama · History

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
★ 6.0
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk2016Drama · War

19-year-old Billy Lynn is brought home for a victory tour after a harrowing Iraq battle. Through flashbacks the film shows what really happened to his squad – contrasting the realities of war with America's perceptions.

To End All Wars
★ 6.4
To End All Wars2001Drama · War

Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon, Lt. Jim Reardon and Maj. Ian Campbell are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.

Braveheart
★ 7.9
Braveheart1995Drama · History · War

Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.

Palestine 36
★ 7.7
Palestine 362025Drama · History · War

Year 1936. As villages across Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest. But history is relentless. With rising numbers of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe and some arriving with nefarious Zionist-colonial ambitions, and the Palestinian population uniting in the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s 30-year dominion, all sides spiral towards inevitable collision in a decisive moment for the British Empire and the future of the entire region.

Behold a Pale Horse
★ 6.0
Behold a Pale Horse1964Drama · War

Manuel Artiguez, a famous bandit during the Spanish civil war, has lived in French exile for 20 years. When his mother is dying he considers visiting her secretly in his Spanish home town. But his biggest enemy, the Spanish police officer Vinolas, prepared a trap at the hospital as a chance to finally catch Artiguez.

Lee
★ 7.0
Lee2024Drama · History · War

The true story of photographer Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

Field of Lost Shoes
★ 6.1
Field of Lost Shoes2015Drama · History · War

A group of teenage cadets sheltered from war at the Virginia Military Institute must confront the horrors of an adult world when they are called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley.

Ararat
★ 6.1
Ararat2002Drama · History · War

Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide.

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
★ 6.4
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc1999Drama · History · War

In 1429, a French teenager stood before her King with a message she claimed came from God; that she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country from its political and religious turmoil. As she reclaims God's diminished kingdom, this courageous young woman has various amazing victories until her violent and untimely death.

The Yellow Birds
★ 6.0
The Yellow Birds2018Drama · War

Two young soldiers, Bartle and Murph, navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.

Shooting Dogs
★ 7.5
Shooting Dogs2006Drama · History

Two westerners, a priest and a teacher find themselves in the middle of the Rwandan genocide and face a moral dilemna. Do they place themselves in danger and protect the refugees, or escape the country with their lives? Based on a true story.

Similar titles

Counterparts
★ 5.8
Counterparts2007Drama

Teacher Anne and policeman Georg are thought of as the perfect couple. However, appearances are deceptive: one of them is covered with scars and bruises. But which one is the abuser?

The Heart Is a Dark Forest
★ 5.5
The Heart Is a Dark Forest2007Drama

A woman's life is destroyed when she discovers that her husband has another family.

Lee
★ 7.0
Lee2024Drama · History · War

The true story of photographer Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

Hotel Very Welcome
★ 5.5
Hotel Very Welcome2007Drama

Five young Europeans (German, English, and Irish) try to find answers to life's questions in India and Thailand.

The Trap
★ 7.3
The Trap2007Drama

Mladen and Marija are an ordinary and happy married couple of the "middle class" of the society in which they live as tenants. Mladen works as a civil engineer in a state company, and Marija is an English teacher in primary school. The couple finds joy in their only son, Nemanja. They discover that Nemanja has a rare heart disease and healing is possible with an operation in a foreign medical center, which costs €26,000.

Risky Business
★ 7.4
Risky Business1967Drama

A teenage girl accuses her primary schoolteacher, Jean Doucet (Jacques Brel), of trying to rape her. The police and the mayor investigate, but Doucet denies the charges. Two other students come forward to reveal more of Doucet's misconduct – one confessing to be his mistress. Doucet faces trial and hard labor if convicted.

Gisela
★ 5.1
Gisela2005Drama

Gisela is a young wife and mother, living in a working class German Housing Scheme. She is a supermarket cashier, her husband a delivery driver. The marriage is stale but together they are working their way up into the middle class. George and Gisela evidently knew each other as teenagers. They live on the same scheme and George introduces her to his friend Paul. There is instant mutual attraction. Gisela spontaneously goes to a party that they invite her to that evening, where she and Paul begin a sexual relationship.

Lady Chatterley
★ 6.2
Lady Chatterley2006Drama

After a crippling injury leaves her husband impotent, Lady Chatterly is torn between her love for her husband and her physical desires. With her husband's consent, she seeks out other means of fulfilling her needs.

After the Wedding
★ 7.2
After the Wedding2006Drama

A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.

Mostly Martha
★ 6.7
Mostly Martha2001Drama

Martha is a single woman who lives for one passion: cooking. The head chef at a chic restaurant, Martha has no time for anything - or anyone - else. But Martha's solitary life is shaken when a fateful accident brings her sister's eight-year-old daughter, Lina, to her doorstep.

Refugee Poetry
★ 10.0
Refugee Poetry2016Drama · War

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

Alistair1918
★ 5.2
Alistair19182015Drama

A social work grad student’s film project on L.A. homelessness becomes something quite other when she and her friends encounter a man claiming to be from another time and place.

Sex Doll
★ 7.0
Sex Doll2013Drama

Young Tamar experiences a surprising sexual awakening. In an attempt to realize her newfound passions, she gets lost between her world of barbie dolls and games to the adult world.

Der Zauber des Regenbogens
★ 4.5
Der Zauber des Regenbogens2007Drama

A very skilful young architect from Berlin, Lea Winter, who has a promising career, is pregnant with Klaus Arnheim, her head of department, a long-time lover but married and father of a family. At the announcement of this unexpected pregnancy, of course, he only envisages abortion for Lea. However, the young woman hesitates. On the advice of her gynecologist, she decides to leave Ireland for a few days to think and make a decision without any pressure. She finds there a simple, authentic life and is confronted with another rhythm of life, with other values and with herself.

The Sex Files: Digital Sex
★ 5.4
The Sex Files: Digital Sex1998Drama

A pair of thieves break into an FBI warehouse and steal a virtual reality device that can record and replay sexual experiences.

Emoticon
★ 2.0
Emoticon2014Drama

Elena Gallenti is an anthropology graduate student struggling to complete her thesis on 'modern means of communication.' All that changes when she meets her new boyfriend's teenage kids, who are going through their own journeys of self-discovery. All of them learn to navigate love and intimacy in the digital age.

Two Living and One Dead
★ 6.4
Two Living and One Dead1937Drama

Based on the 1931 novel To levende og en død by Sigurd Christiansen. A post office worker is left wrestling with his conscience following a robbery at his workplace.

Mourning Recipe
★ 6.0
Mourning Recipe2013Drama

A widower and his daughter deal with the death of the man's wife.

Mrs Hartley and the Growth Centre
Not rated
Mrs Hartley and the Growth Centre1995Drama

When a shy young man arrives on her doorstep, Alice Hartley grabs the chance to escape from her loveless marriage. She and Michael open a Growth Centre with a difference - offering sex, drugs and personalised water births.

The Birds Sang in a Tranquil Place
Not rated
The Birds Sang in a Tranquil Place1986Drama

After the war a young woman from Saigon goes to the countryside at the call of the government to teach love of country to the local people. There she finds that she doesn't really believe in what she teaches, that she's not really interested in the butterflies and birds of the poems she recites and is terribly bored in the countryside.

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.