IN CINEMA
Sunday, October 5th at 12PM
CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS
Behind the Scenes: A New Editing Masterclass & Screening Series
Presented by BIPOC Doc Editors
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, 2025, 95 min.
BIPOC Doc Editors is excited to present a series of editing masterclasses at the Maysles Documentary Center in New York City. Each in-person class features the editors of recent acclaimed documentaries as they share their process and take you on a deep dive from rough cut to picture lock. The sixth installment will be hosted by co-directors of CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, who also edited and produced the film: Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni. The masterclass will be preceded by a screening of CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS.
As the first elected councilwoman of her remote Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi fearlessly breaks 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.
PROGRAM:
12 - 1:45PM: Screening of CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS
1:45 - 2:45PM: Lunch break (lunch not provided)
2:45 - 4:15PM Masterclass with Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
4:15 - 4:45PM Refreshments and mingling!
Sara Khaki (Director, Producer, Editor) is a documentary director, producer, and editor dedicated to telling stories that promote gender equity. She is a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner, World Cinema Documentary and Visions Du Reél Audience Award winner for her feature documentary CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, which follows the first elected councilwoman of a rural Iranian village. The film has been called “a deftly shaped work of cinematic nonfiction” by Indiewire and “one of those profound vérité documentaries that are only possible through the patience and perseverance of the filmmakers” by POV Magazine.
Her short film Our Iranian Lockdown is now streaming on The Guardian and received an IDA Awards nomination. Sara’s co-directed Netflix Original Convergence: Courage in a Crisis was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Film. Sara graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore with a BFA in cinematic arts and from the School of Visual Arts with an MFA in social documentary filmmaking. A grantee of the Sundance Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Films, and Firelight Media, Sara’s work continues to amplify change on gender equity through the cinéma vérité form.
Mohammadreza Eyni (Director, Producer, Editor, and Cinematographer) is a director and producer whose career and cinematic approach aims to bridge boundaries, elevate underrepresented voices, and connect diverse perspectives globally. He is a 2025 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner in the World Documentary competition for his feature documentary CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, which has become an audience favorite at Sydney, Hot Docs, Visions Du Reél international film festivals, among others. His cinematic approach has been heralded as “uniquely propulsive,” “practically magical” (Variety) and “precisely lensed” (Indiewire) as well as “delivering simple moments into cinematic poetry” (Hammer to Nail.) He was named as one of the top five cinematographers to watch at Sundance in 2025.
His intimate short film Our Iranian Lockdown, streaming on The Guardian, has received an IDA Awards nomination. His co-directed Netflix Original Convergence: Courage in a Crisis was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Film. Mohammadreza has been supported by Sundance Institute, IDFA Bertha Foundation, Hot Docs Cross Current Doc Fund, among others. He is a Tribeca Film Institute alumnus and graduated with an MFA in cinema from Tehran University of Fine Arts.
Tickets: Sliding Scale $20-30
