They Shoot Kolbars, Don't They?

The lead protagonists in this film are Kurdistan and the kolbars of Kurdistan. In one of Iran’s most remote, deprived and little-understood regions, every day hundreds of people – from 12-year-old boys to men in their 70s – strap up to 50 kilos’ worth of goods to their backs and set out on foot, singing, on the days-long and dangerous journey across the border to Iraq. Kolbars are border couriers who physically shuttle large amounts of items for sale, from tissues to cigarettes to white goods, between Iran and Iraq. Their very existence is testament to the decades-long wanton neglect of Kurdistan by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which regards the minority communities in this mountainous border province as a security threat and does all it can to stifle local economic growth.