Poster child of the New Iranian Cinema, Makhmalbaf had two acclaimed
films to her name by 20. Her brilliant debut, The Apple, owed much to the
fiction / documentary hybrids pioneered by her father, Mohsen
Makhmalbaf, as well as Abbas Kiarostami. But with Blackboards, she
took off into different terrain, and won a Jury Prize at Cannes. Her
acceptance speech, supporting democracy in Iran, made her something
of a celebrity. There are those who think she's only fronting for her
father - he is officially credited with script-writing and editing -
but the vision of the world her films reveal feels unique.
