‘All The Mountains Give’: Edinburgh Review

Dir: Arash Rakhsha. Iran.  2024. 91mins

All The Mountains Give perfectly illustrates the way documentary allows the viewer to walk in a stranger’s shoes. Filmed over six years, Arash Rakhsha’s compelling debut feature vividly captures the world of the Kurdish men who risk their lives as smugglers (called ’Kolbar’) along the borderlands between Iran and Iraq. An atmospheric, eye-opening work matches moments of thriller-like intensity with a warm human touch, and should find significant festival favour following a world premiere at Edinburgh.

Matches moments of thriller-like intensity with a warm human touch

Rakhsha begins with titles offering useful context on the global plight of the Kurdish people and how many of those living in Iran are hired to smuggle basic household goods across the border with Iraq. Poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunity explain the appeal of backbreaking work that pays one American dollar for every kilo they carry. A quote from Albert Camus’s philosophical essay ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ underlines the point by observing there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labour.

The heart of the film is the friendship between Hamid and Yasser in the Kurdish village of Nodesheh. Acting as his own cinematographer, Rakhsha shows a potent feel for life in a village where stone houses cling to the mountainside and the relentless rain only stops when it grows cold enough for snow. It is a land largely stripped of colour, where the rare green fields offer some respite from the grey houses, muddy roads and dank interiors. The spartan living conditions are contrasted with the natures of both men, especially Hamid who is a loving son and uncle. He patiently cares for his elderly, stone-deaf father and dotes on his niece Sanam.  Her modest birthday party with sparklers, gifts and cake is a moment of joy in a succession of bleak days.

The friendship between Hamid and Yasser is a strong bond against shared hardship. In one scene they climb into the mountains, stretching and reaching out from the edge to experience the invigorating torrents of water from a fierce waterfall. They know that the other’s sure grip will keep them safe. As a contrast, domestic scenes with the soggy drip of rain water or the flicker of a warming flame show just how hard life is, as Hamid and Yasser leave the village to undertake their smuggling. The trips by truck, foot and mule are perilous. The routes are treacherous. The threat of border patrols is eternal. Some areas are planted with landmines. Recent news reports have told of Kolbar shot by border guards and thrown into the river.

The sense of danger and hardship underlines everything they do. Journeys on foot across boulder-strewn paths can take between seven and nine hours. On one trip, the only way of advancing is by stripping down and swimming across a chilly lake. Their endeavours here have the feel of a wartime thriller, or a clandestine operation in which failure will result in either death or incarceration. Even the mules are at risk on some of the steep, narrow paths through the mountains. The thrum of the musical score by Aso Kohzadi and Mikail Asian adds to the sense of imminent danger. 

Rakhsha also brings a philosophical element to the film. Six years of filming have been expertly distilled into a involving human story where we witness lives being risked and losses endured, and confront the stark fact there is little alternative if families are to survive. In the end, the question that hangs over the film is whether it has ever been worthwhile.