Cutting Through Rocks

Mohammadreza Eyni & Sara Khaki
Iran, Germany, United States, Qatar, Netherlands, Chile, Canada | 2025 | 94 min
International Premiere
Languages : Azari, Farsi
Subtitles : English, French

Audience Award in the Wide Angle Competition offered by la Ville de Nyon

As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi 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. Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Cutting Through Rocks followed an unlikely path to winning the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance earlier this year. Co-directors Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni first met Sara Shahverdi while searching for female entrepreneurs — a chance encounter that quickly revealed itself as destiny. It’s not hard to see why: Shahverdi is a force of nature, a compelling and inspiring figure whose unshakable resolve leaves a lasting impression.
Riding her motorcycle across the vast, windswept plains of northwestern Iran, Shahverdi cuts an unconventional figure. But it soon becomes clear that her ambitions reach far beyond her own hard-won personal freedom. She is determined to challenge the deeply rooted patriarchal norms that govern her community. As the first woman ever elected to her village council, she faces constant resistance from her male counterparts. Cutting Through Rocks captures her fierce determination, sharp political instinct, and deep empathy as she carves her own path through a world of obstacles.
In many ways, Khaki and Eyni’s thoughtful filmmaking echoes Shahverdi’s approach: even the smallest spark of freedom can open up vast new horizons. And sometimes, the roar of an engine is all it takes to set it in motion.
James Berclaz-Lewis

Sara Khaki
Cutting Through Rocks, 2025
Our Iranian Lockdown, 2020
The Friend's House, 2020
Facing the Mirror, 2012

Mohammadreza Eyni
Cutting Through Rocks, 2025
Our Iranian Lockdown, 2020
The Friend's House, 2020
The Silent Horse