In his feature film debut, director Bahman Ghobadi portrays the life of Kurds on the Iraq-Iran border who live from smuggling because the fields are mined. After the death of their father, a family of five is forced to survive on their own. The situation worsens when 12-year-old Ayoub, the new head of the family, learns that his disabled brother Madi needs immediate surgery to survive. Rojin, the oldest sister, wants to be married off to an Iraqi who will make Madi's surgery possible. Ayub joins a gang that smuggles tires on horses and mules through deep snowy mountains across the border into Iraq. The animals are filled with liquor so they can survive the journey across the mountains.
In his feature film debut, director Bahman Ghobadi portrays the life of Kurds on the Iraq-Iran border who live from smuggling because the fields are mined.
After the death of their father, a family of five is forced to survive on their own. The situation worsens when 12-year-old Ayoub, the new head of the family, learns that his disabled brother Madi needs immediate surgery to survive.
Rojin, the oldest sister, wants to be married off to an Iraqi who will make Madi's surgery possible. Ayub joins a gang that smuggles tires on horses and mules through deep snowy mountains across the border into Iraq.
The animals are filled with liquor so they can survive the journey across the mountains.