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This is a slice of life film about Kurdish children on the Iraq/ Turkey border before and during the latest Gulf war. The children are mostly orphans, surviving by collecting and selling landmines, quite a few of them are missing limbs and the main story revolves around a young girl trying to get rid of the toddler she had as a result of being raped previously. I don’t see any signs of real hope or optimism in this film. Possibly this is because the director is a Kurd and consciously focussing on the plight of his people, and them Kurds don’t have a country yet or any sign of getting one. This is a great film if you want to go home either suicidal or murderously angry at the whole entire world; whether either of those states is very constructive is another matter.

It’s also quite confusing in its meaning, so there are probably other interpretations available (where the central theme is “meaninglessness” ambiguity generally arises).