Cutting Through Rocks

Play trailer

Cutting Through Rocks

2025

1h 34m

Documentary

Biography

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

30 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

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.

Critics Consensus

Both a stirring portrait of a determined trailblazer and a clear-eyed study of social inequity, Cutting Through Rocks is a visually-striking documentary that'll get the engine revving.

Read Critics Reviews

Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (LAist)

Dec 31

Inspiring, really well-shot, and also quite moving.

Go to Full Review

Peyton Robinson

RogerEbert.com

Nov 21

3/4

The film grants hope for the women of Iran through its thick-skinned subject, putting her resume and grit on display.

Go to Full Review

Sheri Linden

New York Times

Nov 20

Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, who directed and edited the documentary, with Eyni also serving as cinematographer, have made a film that pulses with so much hopefulness that when Shahverdi’s story takes a shocking turn, it’s a punch to the solar plexus.

Go to Full Review

Carla Hay

Culture Mix

1d

The documentary Cutting Through Rocks gives a compelling look at the life of motorcycle-riding maverick politician Sara Shahverdi, whose feminist activism has shattered some gender barriers, as she battles misogyny in her Iranian village.

Go to Full Review

Glenn Dunks

reDocumented

1d

It’s not a surprise that it won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance for world cinema (documentary) when its images can be so striking and get so efficiently to the heart of its story.

Go to Full Review

Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

Feb 24

4/5

An indelible portrait of a singularly scrappy, stubborn woman determined to force change in her deeply patriarchal Iranian village.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Dean E

@RT73719767 5d

A woman has the audacity to run for, and win, a spot on her Village Council. In IRAN. What happens next is basically what you expect, as she has an uphill fight to convince the men, and even the older women, that women should be allowed to do what men do. Just when you think that women might be making some progress in that part of the world........

See more

Jonathan K

@aFIREintheattic Mar 1

Gratifying until it very much was not. I was ready to come on here and say the future is female, but in Iran it still seems like it very much is not. Pretty depressing in the end. Maddeningly regressive. Not the doc... Iran. Or the world, I guess. Yeah, the world. * sigh * I'm told the moral arc of the universe bends or something like that. As a documentary, it's raw and feels completely unstaged, even in moments that must have required some setup. The central figure is strong, relentless, and an interesting character study. I would watch an entire series about her fighting for the women and girls in her village and country.

See more

Nate S

@Nate78 Feb 18

A great documentary that shows everyday life in Iran, relationships between people, and Sarah's tireless energy to improve the lives of people. I highly recommend seeing this one.

See more

Stephen C

@bob25009 Nov 21

The worldwide gross is $7,066.00.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Mohammadreza Eyni

Director

Sara Khaki

Director

Eyni Sara Khaki

Director

Mohammad Reza Eyni

Director

Eyni Sara Khaki

Producer

Mohammad Reza Eyni

Producer

A Photographic Memory

100%

%

A Photographic Memory

Watchlist

TRAILER

for A Photographic Memory

Art for Everybody

100%

%

Art for Everybody

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Art for Everybody

Sunday Best

100%

97%

Sunday Best

Watchlist

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

99%

95%

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

100%

99%

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

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.

Director: Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, Eyni Sara Khaki, Mohammad Reza Eyni
Producer: Eyni Sara Khaki, Mohammad Reza Eyni
Production Co: Gandom Films Production
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: Persian
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 21, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 1h 34m