IR, FR | 2007 | colour| 81 min
reż|dir Hana Makhmalbaf  pro|pro Maysam Makhmalbaf sce|sc Marzieh Makhmalbaf zdj|ph Ostad Ali muz|mus Tolibhon Shakhidi  mon|ed Mastaneh Mohajer ob|cast Abbas Alijome, Abdolali Hoseinali, Nikbakht Noruz dys|dis Wild Bunch

Hana Makhamalbaf’s feature debut is a documentary portraying Bamian city in Afganisthan. 2001 the Talibs destroyed there 30 meter high Budda statues, the grate monuments carved in the rock that counted over 1500 years. What left were caves, with monasteries in them. In one of them lives Bakhtay with her family. Her peers go to school, learn how to write and read. Nonetheless she must take care of her little brother. But Bakhtay is determined to sacrifice a lot to learn alphabet. 

AWARDS
2008 IFF Berlin – Crystal Bear in category Best Film
2007 IFF San Sebastian – Special Prize of the Jury

DIRECTOR | Hana Makhmalbaf (1988)
Iranian director. Derives from a family of filmmakers. Daughter of a famous person in Iranian cinema, Mohsen Makhmalbaf; her mother and sister also work in film industry. Her first film, displayed in Locarno, Hana made when she was 8 years old. With fifteen she made a 105 minutes documentary Joy of Madness about her sister’s film production.