All the Mountains Give review – gripping portrait of smugglers on the Iran-Iraq border

Arash Rakhsha’s documentary follows two Kurdish friends just about getting by smuggling goods across the mountains

By Phuong Le

In an immersive and sweeping debut feature, Kurdish film-maker Arash Rakhsha portrays the plight of his people with sheer cinematic poetry.

Shot over six years, the film closely follows Hamid and Yasser, two Kurdish friends who work side by side as kolbars, smugglers of untaxed household goods across the Iran-Iraq border.

Coloured in icy shades of blue, their lives are filled with terrifying dangers, yet there’s also space for warmth and camaraderie amid the fog of precariousness.

Getting paid per kilogram, the pair haul heavy loads on their backs through treacherous terrain. One moment they are wading upstream, the next they are hiking through the steep, snowbound ranges of the Zagros mountains.

The kolbars also rely on mules for transport, though this means they are easier to detect by the border patrols.

Landmines – active souvenirs from the Iran-Iraq war – are also hazards on the winding paths; every year, about 200 kolbars die en route.

Taut and evocative, Aso Kohzadi and Mikail Asian’s piano and strings-driven score further underlines the psychological tightrope of these treks.

In wide shot, Hamid and Yasser are dwarfed by the majestic but melancholic landscape, fraught with unknowable pitfalls.

The gripping, thriller-like atmosphere of the men’s journeys is punctuated by touching moments of domestic calm. Gentle scenes of family bonds – Hamid tending to his ailing father, Yasser teaching Kurdish to his wife – glow with a painterly beauty.

For this stateless ethnic group, their homes acquire an even more powerful meaning. The film’s use of a wide aspect ratio is especially effective, turning seemingly ordinary acts of care into larger-than-life tableaux.

These quiet moments are what nourish the kolbars with courage and strength, as they brave death on a daily basis.

All the Mountains Give is at Bertha DocHouse, London from 11 April.