The documentary Cutting Through Rocks is proof positive of the idiom, “two steps forward, one step back.” Directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, this film tells the story of Sara Shahverdi, the first elected councilwoman in her northwestern Iranian village. We follow her from her campaigning for votes, to her surprising victory, and then her struggle to affect change in her community. A long-lived culture of male-dominated norms stands in her way and leads to deep tensions and conflict. Members of Shahverdi’s own family become enemies, questioning the stubbornness of her resolve and willingness to fight back.
There is a full narrative built out here, briskly edited, and anchored by two trees that Shahverdi planted with her late father many years ago. He raised her to be independent, a progressive man born into a patriarchal world. Just as she returns to the trees to find solace, so does the film. As her struggles mount once on the council, each reprieve by the trees means a bit more. These sequences hold the film’s most striking images.
Shahverdi is an incredible subject. A former midwife and divorcee in a region where divorce is largely vilified, this strong woman rides a motorcycle, dresses the way she wants, and challenges authority at every turn. One of the more compelling scenes in the film revolves around Shahverdi demanding that her brothers rewrite a document concerning their family’s inheritance so she and her sisters are not left out. She will not be denied.
There are more than a few sequences in which she is confronted by agitated male villagers directly questioning her independence and stubborn decision-making. There are also unsettling scenes of young women who are physically assaulted by older men who are meant to be their protectors. Often the camera is hidden or obscured, capturing as much as possible without being discovered.
Despite all of these obstacles, Cutting Through Rocks, like its subject, is resilient. The film is ultimately the sum of small, powerful moments: Shahverdi offering a home for a young teenage girl being pressured into a (second!) arranged marriage; teaching a small group of young women to ride motorcycles, much to the village’s chagrin; and insisting on a particular design of a new village park against the objections of others in the council. As the political forces begin to push against her progress, she holds fast to her beliefs. Her identity as a woman is put into question, as are the actions inside her home. At one point, an explanation offered by another villager is brutal in its acquiescence to tradition: “It is what it is.”
Khaki and Eyni risked everything to capture these images. Production was on-and-off for seven years between many visits, and the dedication shows. There is not much in the way of fluff here. So often in documentaries there will be b-roll as a transitional element. It can be useful but feels superfluous more times than not. Cutting Through Rocks has none of that. This is lean storytelling, focused on its subject with more than enough interesting footage to underline the tragic beats while offering a glimmer of hope in the faces of the young women Shahverdi has so clearly inspired. The words “representation matters” has become something of a punchline in certain corners of the internet. It’s a shame, because representation matters.
Cutting Through Rocks opens on Friday, November 21 at NYC’s Film Forum.