Blackboards is a film that follows itinerant Kurdish teachers who carry blackboards on their backs as they search for students in the hills and villages of Iran, near the Iraqi border during the Iran-Iraq war.
Said joins a group of old men in search of their destroyed village and becomes the husband of Halaleh, the only woman in the clan who is a widow with a young son.
Reeboir befriends a group of young boys who act as mules, carrying contraband across the border. The teachers try to educate these boys as they continue their dangerous journey.
Danger is ever-present with armed soldiers patrolling the skies, roads, and border. The film raises questions about the role of a teacher in such circumstances and whether there is hope for the future.