Opening Night: Cutting Through Rocks
Directed by Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki
Iran
95 mins
2025
As the first elected councilwoman of her deeply conservative Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi — a divorced, motorcycle-riding, former midwife — stands out. Tenacious and not easily intimidated, Sara is determined to uplift her community and put an end to the empty promises and laziness perpetuated by local councilmen over the years. But it is as an advocate for the girls and women in her village where she encounters the greatest opposition. Among other things, she 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.
Credits
- Director
- Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
- Writer
- Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
- Producer
- Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki
- Cinematographer
- Mohammadreza Eyni
- Editor
- Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
- Sound
- Sound design: Miguel Hormazabal
- Music
- Karim Sebastian Elias
- Cast
- Sara Shahverdi
Sydney – Palace Moore Park
Thursday 16 April Ceremony: 6:30 pm Screening: 7:00 pm
Join us for the Opening Night of the 12th Persian Film Festival, featuring the Oscar-nominated film CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni.
The film received the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and received raving reviews.
"Directors Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni bring a measured hand to “Cutting Through Rocks,” their debut documentary about the first councilwoman in a rural Iranian village. The film’s irascible but deeply principled subject — thirty-something divorcee Sara Shahverdi — gives the film its energy, though its lulls aren’t quite as purposeful. However, despite feeling drawn-out, the doc features occasional bursts of visual panache that help emphasize its underlying story." – Variety
* Please note the film will be screening simultaneously in two cinemas. Cinema 2 is now sold out, and tickets for Cinema 1 have just been released.
