CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS

(The 2025 Sundance Film Festival ran January 23- February 2 in and around gorgeous Park City, UT. HtN has you covered for all the hottest titles like Chris Reed’s Cutting Through Rocks movie review. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)

As we in the United States bear witness to a distressing backlash against women’s advances here at home, courtesy of a presidential administration fixated on outmoded ideas of masculinity, it is instructive to look elsewhere and see how feminist principles survive in other patriarchal societies. The new documentary Cutting Through Rocks, from real-life partners Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki—making their feature debut—follows Sara Shahverdi, her Iranian village’s first elected female councilmember, as she makes space for other women, and girls, to live as freely as possible. She, like the movie, proves profoundly inspiring.

When we first meet Shahverdi, she is fixing the exterior gate to her house. She’s capable with tools and also strong, lifting the heavy door on her own. She then hops on a motorcycle and rides off. As we learn more about her, we discover that she is one of 6 sisters, with 3 younger brothers. Before the boys came along, her father treated her as one, training her to drive and do construction and allowing her to choose her own clothes. She has been an independent spirit ever since.

She is also celebrated in the village, located in the northwest of the country, since she, as a midwife, has helped over 400 women give birth. She is therefore deeply intertwined in their lives and, no surprise, when she runs for the council, not only wins, but receives the most votes. Her popularity initially soars when she then proceeds to pursue the local public-works projects she discussed in her campaign. If those projects—primarily the installation of a water system—allow her to also empower other women in the village by encouraging/forcing their husbands to share property deeds with them (you’ll have to watch the film to see the how and why), even better.

Unfortunately, Cutting Through Rocks is as much about the eventual retaliation by the male establishment as about Shahverdi’s achievements. No system enjoys being provoked. What gives the reprisals a sharp sting is that it is one of her younger brothers—also elected to the council—who participates in the blowback.

The movie contains equal parts pain and joy. Successive visits to a girls’ school reveal how many of the students we initially see are married off by the time we come back, despite their desire to pursue an education. And the attacks on Shahverdi take a toll on her morale, as well. But she does not give in, and her presence serves as example to those who might follow. Plus, since she is divorced, that means marriage is not necessarily the final endpoint.

Eyni, on camera, delivers striking images that elevate simple moments to cinematic poetry. In addition, the access to schools, homes, and courtrooms that he and Khaki have managed to negotiate impresses, throughout. Tough as Shahverdi’s travails may be, the fact that she perseveres should give hope to anyone facing oppression. Stand tall and look a bully in the eye. Cutting rocks takes time, but eventually you break through.

– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)

2025 Sundance Film Festival; Mohammad Reza Eyni, Sara Khaki; Cutting Through Rocks

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