Episode 98

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Published on:

17th Nov 2025

*DOCNYC 2025 - Cutting Through Rocks - Co-directors Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni

Winner of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner (World Cinema Documentary) Co-directors Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni's Cutting Through Rocks drops us into the world of the fearless mid-wife Sara Shahverdi, who decides she wants to be the first woman to run for the local area council. Not only does she win, she takes on the local patriarchy in her remote Iranian village. Sara fearlessly breaks traditions by stopping child marriages and training teenage girls to ride motorcycles. When accusations arise questioning her intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.

Co-director /Producer / Editor Sara Khaki and Co-director / Producer / Editor / Cinematographer Mohammadreza Eyni join us to talk about their eight year journey to document and bear witness to the fierce determination of Sara as she works to make the world a better place, one young woman at a time.

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Cinemafile
Cinemafile showcases the very best in independent, documentary and foreign films through our conversations with the more than 2,000 filmmakers who made them. Through Cinemafile we will do our best to bring the most interesting and accomplished filmmakers from around the world to your attention.

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Michael Kaspar

Mike Kaspar is a life-long film fan who has worked as a projectionist at an art house theatre, college radio station general manager as well as a radio show host and producer for over 18 years.