| Cutting Through Rocks | |
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| Directed by |
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| Produced by |
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| Cinematography | Mohammaderza Eyni |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Karim Sebastian Elias |
Production company | Gandom Films Production |
Release dates | |
Running time | 95 minutes |
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Cutting Through Rocks is a 2025 documentary film directed by Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki, in their feature debut. It follows the first Iranian woman elected as councilwoman in a rural poor village. [2] [3] [4]
The film had its world premiere at the World Documentary Competition section of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on 27 January.
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]
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. The film will release in the United States at Film Forum on 21 November 2025, followed by a limited theatrical release on 5 December. [7]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% rating. [8] 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, [9] acquired the film. [10]
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." [11]
On April 11, the film was awarded the Audience Award in the Wide Angle section at Visions du Reél in Nyon, Switzerland. [12] On May 1, Cutting Through Rocks was predicted as a contender for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature by Variety. [13]
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