Cutting Through Rocks

Patriarchy reigns in the rural Iranian village where 37 year-old Sara Shahverdi—divorced, childless, and an avid motorcyclist—became the first woman elected to city council. Wife and husband team Khaki and Eyni followed Shahverdi’s journey over eight years, tracking her inspiring, upstream efforts to subvert economic systems and transform local attitudes (of men and women alike) that destine girls to matrimony and dependence. A midwife and one of 9 children, Sara is both deeply connected to the everyday lives of her fellow villagers and a radical lone voice advocating—at great personal cost—for education over marriage, home co-ownership, and girls on bikes.