Bahman Ghobadi's film is a remarkable fictional portrait of children caught in the midst of conflict. It shows damaged lives but it also depicts resourcefulness and resilience, even in the most extreme circumstances. The film is set on the border between Iran and Turkey, just before the invasion of Iraq. The viewer knows already, therefore, some of the events that are about to take place. The focus is on a group of Kurdish children, all apparently orphaned or alone, who have established a degree of security for themselves in the most dangerous situation. They scavenge mines and sell them. Some of them have already lost limbs in the endeavour. Presiding over them is a kind of Artful Dodger known as Satellite (Soran Ebrahim), who is the entrepreneur charged with supervising the village elders' push to buy a satellite dish to keep abreast of the turbulent politics of the region, even if it means that decadent Western images will also be available. Three young newcomers arrive on the scene, a girl and her brothers, and Satellite is immediately drawn to the troubled young girl, Agrin (Avaz Latif), whose state of mind is already indicated in a flashforward at the beginning of the film.