Sara Shahverdi’s unique position as a councilwoman in rural Iran invites the audience to share her triumphs and setbacks as she uplifts young women and ruffles conservative feathers by advocating for gender equality.
Shaverdi is a remarkable woman… Khaki and Eyni wisely choose to portray her as a flawed but passionate, tough, and resilient human being – the rock-cutter of the title.
Cutting Through Rocks 2025
Ozak ulalar
The first elected councilwoman in her conservative Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi is a landowner, wears men’s clothing under her abaya, and rides a motorcycle. Having beaten the odds, she is a role model to young girls in the village and living proof that child marriage is not the only option for them. However, not everyone is happy with her modern views – many villagers adhere to traditional gender role expectations and believe that women have no place holding positions of power.
Shahverdi’s compassionate determination in the pursuit of equality shines through as she addresses infrastructural concerns that have long been ignored and implores her male constituents to share property ownership with their wives. Despite accentuating her strength, the documentary doesn’t shy away from Shahverdi’s vulnerability, particularly when the opposition threatens her through intimately personal attacks.
Cutting Through Rocks offers a succinct glimpse into an area rarely portrayed from a female’s point-of-view and emphasises Shahverdi’s courageous resistance to authoritarianism in the fight for female empowerment. — Madison Marshall