Cutting Through Rocks

A small silhouetted figure sits or crouches on a ridge beneath a dramatic, cloud-filled sky. The dark landscape and low light create a stark, contemplative scene.

Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Cutting Through Rocks is an inspiring story of determination and civic courage.

37-year-old Sara Shahverdi, a motorcycle riding, land owning, former midwife-turned-fierce citizen advocate and recent divorcée, just won a landslide local election to become the first elected councilwoman in her remote village in northwest Iran. Shahverdi aims to use her position 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 local girls, her identity is put in turmoil, making her bold dreams feel impossible to realize.

Filmed over several years, Cutting Through Rocks is an intimate portrait of Shahverdi's determined efforts to upend daily injustices and improve the lives of women in her town.

In Azerbaijani, Turkish, Arabic, and Persian with English subtitles. Part of our "Doc Spots" series. Courtesy: Autlook Filmsales

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