Cutting Through Rocks

Cutting Through Rocks is a 2025 documentary film directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni about the first woman councilwoman in a rural Iranian village. The film is the feature debut of married Iranian directors Khaki and Eyni.^[2][3][4]

Cutting Through Rocks
Directed by	Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Produced by	Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Cinematography	Mohammaderza Eyni
Edited by	Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Music by	Karim Sebastian Elias
Production company	Gandom Films Production
Release date	January 27, 2025 (2025-01-27) (Sundance)[1]
Running time	95 mins
Countries	Qatar, Chile, Iran, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, United States
Languages	Azerbaijani, Turkish, Persian, English

Synopsis

As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara’s intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.^[5] Sheila Nevins, former head of MTV Documentary Films, serves as one of the film's Executive Producers, as well as Meadow Fund, Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Judith Helfand, and Julie Parker Benello.^[6]

Release

Cutting Through Rocks had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in the World Documentary Competition.^[1] Following its Sundance premiere, the film also screened at Visions du Reél, San Francisco International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival and Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% rating.^[7] Following its Sundance premiere, Lauren Wissot from Indiewire called the film "a deftly shaped work of cinematic nonfiction" and Autlook Filmsales, one of the leading documentary sales outfits,^[8] acquired the film.^[9]

On January 31, Cutting Through Rocks received the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, with the Sundance jury saying, "this beautiful and nuanced portrait shows us a fearless eccentric who confronts male-dominated society when she runs for office in a remote Iranian village. Her determination, warmth, and humor and the way her story is told left us in awe."^[10]

On April 11, the film was awarded the Audience Award in the Wide Angle section at Visions du Reél in Nyon, Switzerland.^[11] On May 1, Cutting Through Rocks was predicted as a contender for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature by Variety.^[12]