Cutting Through Rocks

Local title
Läbi halli kivi
Original title
اوزاک یوللار
Director
Mohammad Reza Eyni, Sara Khaki
Year
2025
Festival
29th Black Nights Film Festival
Programme
Genre

Breaking long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages.

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.

The film won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival.

Director
Mohammad Reza Eyni, Sara Khaki
Screenwriter
Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Cast
Sara Shahverdi
Producer
Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Cinematographer
Mohammadreza Eyni
Production Design
Gandom Films LLC
Editing
Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Composer
Karim Sebastian Elias
Sound
Miguel Hormazabal
Production
Gandom Films LLC
World sales
Autlook Flmsales
Runtime
Language
Subtitles
Other festivals
Warsaw, Vancouver

Screenings

Screening030914 / Läbi halli kivi
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Screening073218 / Läbi halli kivi
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Screening100215 / Läbi halli kivi
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration