Cutting Through Rocks

Sara Shaverdi is the first woman ever elected to the council of her village in rural Iran. Her promises: to curb child marriage, guarantee education for girls and also secure the long-awaited gas connection for the village. All things far from easy to achieve in a country where women face systemic disadvantage and many decisions are made undemocratically.

Sara soon discovers that she will receive little open support from the community. To get things done she continues much of her work behind closed doors. She takes the teenage Fereshteh into her home in an effort to prevent her arranged marriage. In her free time she secretly teaches girls how to ride motorbikes, and persuades a man to allow his wife to share in an inheritance.

Despite pressure from the patriarchal system, Sara doesn’t give up. She stands up to the men around her, even when they question the integrity of her motives. The documentary and its unyielding protagonist were well received at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.