You must know Sara Shahverdi

In the last edition of the Oscars, the award for best documentary film was won by Mr. Nobody against Putin. The impact of the story of this high school teacher in deep Russia overshadowed another splendid documentary, nominated in the same category, which Movistar+ has just premiered: Cutting through rocks, directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni. You must get to know its protagonist, Sara Shahverdi. She will fascinate you with her personality and drive. Sara becomes the first woman elected councilor in her rural village in northwestern Iran. She is a midwife, an activist for women's rights, and a tireless worker. The documentary begins by showing how, all by herself, she fixes a large iron door using an angle grinder. She also uses the trunk of a tree to level the doorframe and make the lock fit. The determination with which she will solve this problem will be maintained throughout the film. Shahverdi never stops: she advises women to claim their inheritance rights, coordinates village improvement works, gives talks at schools to encourage girls to continue studying, cares for her mother, fixes breakdowns, repairs her motorcycle... Even the viewer perceives a certain sensation of physical exhaustion just by seeing the energy she puts into improving the lives of others. The documentary is imbued with her strength.

There are very impactful scenes, such as the divorce request that a very young girl makes before a judge. At only twelve years old, she was forced to marry a man thirty-five years older, and now she asks to be freed from this marriage. The arguments the judge uses to deny her petition are devastating. The camera observes the girl's gaze. Later, we will see her weaving a tapestry that will be a kind of allegory of her slow transformation. The bond established between Sara and her is moving, because, through affection and motivation, the councilor works to empower her. 

The motorcycle is another of the great protagonists of the documentary. A key object to help the girls in the village break with the stereotypes of patriarchy. Sara teaches them to ride, and what seems like simple fun becomes an act of liberation. She encourages them to accelerate, to occupy space, to run, and she acts in the same way, aware that she is the only role model they have. The sequences with the motorcycle during the sunsets are worthy of a modern western. A heroine riding against adversity. The protagonist challenges the system in a fierce duel, but the documentary also highlights the cost of her activism and the obstacles she faces. There are scenes that open cracks of optimism and others that reveal that her work is just a grain of sand against sexism in Iran. Despite everything, Cutting through rocks poses the illusion that individual struggle is capable of achieving a certain social transformation.