Iran’s border region, where there is no sign of life. After climbing the green hills and sand dunes and passing through a cemetery full of phallic sculptures, Amir finally arrives at his new post—an old bus, parked in the middle of nowhere. Without a single human being let alone a student to teach, he spends his first night in the bus only to be kicked out the next day by the owner of the bus. Amir struggles to keep the school going, but even making the effort is not easy.
The lives of nomads who live in the border region of Iran are monotonous, poor, and miserable at times. The state does not care for them. Young girls, in particular, become weary of life much earlier. Just like the stilted conversation between Amir and the nomads who do not understand each other due to a language barrier, Amir’s advocacy for the necessity of education rings hollow among the hills. Set against picturesque scenery, Among the Hills spatially separates and depicts the lives of children and women, who have to make sacrifices to maintain their deceptive peace, and a teacher and a doctor, who cannot but remain as observers and strangers to this closed community. (PARK Sun Young)