Screening: Cutting Through Rocks

Description

Sara Shahverdi is the first woman elected to the council of her rural Iranian village. A divorced former midwife who rides a motorcycle, she is determined to challenge child marriage, champion girls’ education and fight for women’s rights. 

Filmed over several years by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, Cutting Through Rocks is an intimate portrait of courage, resistance and the personal cost of confronting patriarchal power. 

Winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at Sundance and nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2026 Academy Awards. 

Cutting Through Rocks is in Azerbaijani and Persian (Farsi), with English subtitles.  

Runtime: 95 minutes. 

This film is part of a season exploring Iranian cinema.