Mohammadreza Eyni

Mohammadreza Eyni
Mohammadreza Eyni
EducationUniversity of Tehran, Faculty of Fine Arts
OccupationsFilmmaker, director, producer
Years active2007–present
Known forCutting Through Rocks

Mohammadreza Eyni is an Oscar nominated U.S.-based filmmaker, director, and producer. He is one of the founders of Gandom Films Production, an independent film production company.[1]

Eyni has worked in cinema as a director and producer since 2007. He is best known internationally for the 2025 documentary film Cutting Through Rocks, which he co-directed and co-produced with Sara Khaki. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, and was subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 98th Academy Awards.[2][3]

Education

Eyni holds a master's degree in cinema from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran. During his graduate studies, he focused on narrative methods in the history of cinema and completed a master's thesis on nonlinear narrative.[4]

He is also an alumnus of the Tribeca Film Institute.[5]

Career

Eyni has worked as a director and producer in documentary filmmaking since 2007. His filmography includes The Sleepwalker, The Silent Horse, The Friend's House, Our Iranian Lockdown, Convergence: Courage in a Crisis, and Cutting Through Rocks.[1][6][7][8]

Together with filmmaker Sara Khaki, Eyni founded Gandom Films Production L.L.C., an independent production company based in the United States.[1]

In December 2024, it was announced that Eyni and Khaki's feature documentary Cutting Through Rocks would premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The film follows Sara Shahverdi, a midwife and divorced woman in a rural Iranian village who runs for a seat on the local council and becomes the first woman elected to the council.[1][9]

The film premiered on January 27, 2025, to generally positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% rating.[10][11]

On January 31, 2025, Cutting Through Rocks received the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.[2]

The Sundance jury described the film as a nuanced portrait of a woman confronting a male-dominated society while running for office in a remote Iranian village.[2][12]

In 2026, Eyni and Khaki were nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for Cutting Through Rocks.[13]

Academy Awards

Cutting Through Rocks was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 98th Academy Awards. Eyni and Khaki were credited as the film's directors and producers.[3]

The nomination made Cutting Through Rocks the first Iranian documentary feature ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[14][15]

Filmography

Year Film Role Ref.
2014 The Sleepwalker Director, producer [6]
2016 The Silent Horse Director, producer [7]
2020 The Friend's House Director, producer [8]
2020 Our Iranian Lockdown Director, producer [1]
2021 Convergence: Courage in a Crisis Director, producer [1][16]
2025 Cutting Through Rocks Director, producer [17][18]

Awards and nominations

Year Festival / organization Country Award Result Film Ref.
2026 Academy Awards United States Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [3]
2025 IDFA Netherlands NPO Doc IDFA Audience Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [19]
2026 Directors Guild of America United States Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [13]
2022 International Documentary Association United States IDA Award for Best Short Documentary Nominated Our Iranian Lockdown [20]
2022 News & Documentary Emmy Awards United States News & Documentary Emmy Award Nominated Convergence: Courage in a Crisis [16]
2025 Edinburgh International Film Festival United Kingdom Audience Award Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [21]
2025 Galway Film Fleadh Ireland Audience Award Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [22]
2025 Giffoni Film Festival Italy Griffon Award for Best Film – Documentary Won Cutting Through Rocks [23]
2025 Humanitas Prize United States Humanitas Prize – Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [24]
2025 DOK Leipzig Germany Golden Dove Won Cutting Through Rocks [25]
2025 Melbourne International Film Festival Australia Audience Award – Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [26]
2025 Newport Beach Film Festival United States Jury Award for Best First Feature Won Cutting Through Rocks [27]
2025 San Francisco International Film Festival United States Audience Award – Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [28]
2025 Sundance Film Festival United States World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize Won Cutting Through Rocks [2]
2025 Sydney Film Festival Australia JIO Audience Award for Best International Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [29]
2025 Vancouver International Film Festival Canada Audience Award Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Warsaw International Film Festival Poland Free Spirit Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Warsaw International Film Festival Poland NETPAC Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Warsaw International Film Festival Poland Audience Award – Documentary Films, second place Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Woodstock Film Festival United States Best Documentary Feature Won Cutting Through Rocks [31]
2025 Woodstock Film Festival United States Maverick Award for Best Director Won Cutting Through Rocks [32]
2025 Bergen International Film Festival Norway Best International Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Alternative Film Festival Canada Best Documentary Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Athens International Film Festival Greece Golden Athena – Best Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Hot Docs Canada Audience Top 10 Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [33]
2025 Göteborg Film Festival Sweden International Award – Best Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Visions du Réel Switzerland Audience Award – Grand Angle Competition Won Cutting Through Rocks [34]
2025 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival Brazil Audience Award – Best Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 New York Women in Film & Television United States Excellence in Directing Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [35]
2025 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Estonia Best Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [36]
2026 Cinema for Peace Germany Women's Empowerment Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2026 Films That Matter Netherlands Audience Award – Best Film Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2026 Films That Matter Netherlands Activist Documentary Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival United States Best Documentary – International Feature Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 DocsBarcelona Spain DocsBarcelona TV3 Award – Best Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [37]
2025 New Zealand International Film Festival New Zealand Audience Award – Frames Competition Won Cutting Through Rocks [1]
2025 New Zealand International Film Festival New Zealand Best Film – Frames Competition Won Cutting Through Rocks [1]
2026 Social Impact Media Awards United States Best Director Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2026 Social Impact Media Awards United States Feature Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Guanajuato International Film Festival Mexico International Competition – Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Montclair Film Festival United States Bruce Sinofsky Prize for Documentary Feature Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [38]
2025 Maine International Film Festival United States Audience Award Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Berkshire International Film Festival United States Audience Award – Documentary Feature Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 DMZ International Documentary Film Festival South Korea Special Jury Mention – International Competition Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2026 ZagrebDox Croatia Films That Matter Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [39]
2026 Docville Belgium Jury Award – Best Thematic Documentary Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [40]
2025 Catalonia International Social Film Festival Spain Jury Award – Best Film Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 This Human World Austria Jury Award – Best Documentary Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Festival des Libertés Belgium Grand Prize Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Festival des Libertés Belgium Best Film Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Middle East Now Italy Felicetta Ferraro Award Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 MDOC – Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival Portugal Jean-Loup Passek Award for Best Feature Won Cutting Through Rocks [41]
2025 International Film Festival of Education France Jury Award – Best Film Won Cutting Through Rocks [42]
2025 Verzió Film Festival Hungary Best Human Rights Film Won Cutting Through Rocks [43]
2024 Anthem Awards United States Anthem Award – Arts & Culture Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Centre Film Festival United States Jury Selection Award – Best Documentary Won Cutting Through Rocks [44]
2024 Trivaviva Film Festival Canada Jury Award – Best Documentary Feature Won Cutting Through Rocks [30]
2025 Seattle Documentary Film Festival United States Audience Award Nominated Cutting Through Rocks [30]

Masterclasses and professional workshops

Alongside his professional work as a director and producer, Eyni has participated in international masterclasses, panels, and professional sessions focusing on filmmaking, editing, cinematography, and visual storytelling.

  • In February 2026, Eyni participated in Chaos and Control: Exposing Systems That Thrive on Confusion as part of Berlinale Talents in Berlin. The session examined the role of documentary filmmaking in confronting abuses of power, accountability, and hidden forms of injustice.[45]
  • In January 2025, Eyni participated in Focus on Lenses at the Canon Creative Studio in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival. The session examined the role of lenses in shaping the look and feel of a project and their use in communicating the meaning of a scene.[46]
  • In 2025, Eyni participated in More Than Meets the Eye: Master Class in Visual Storytelling as part of the Reality program at DC/DOX.[47]
  • In 2025, Eyni participated in Behind the Scenes: Editing Masterclass Series at the Maysles Documentary Center in New York, focusing on documentary editing and the process through which a final cut is shaped.[48]
  • On December 12, 2025, Eyni and Sara Khaki participated in the online event Inside the Edit with BIPOC Doc Editors: Cutting Through Rocks, organized by Sundance Collab.[49]
  • On November 19, 2025, Eyni participated in Cinematography and the Visual Language of Docs as part of DOC NYC's professional programming, discussing cinematography, framing, and visual language in documentary storytelling.[50]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Filmmakers behind Cutting Through Rocks". Gandom Films Production. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "2025 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners Announced". Sundance Institute. 31 January 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "The 98th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  4. ↑ "Nonlinear Narrative". University of Tehran. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "Mohammad Reza Eyni". Tribeca Film Institute. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 "The winners of the Sixth Fajr Visual Arts Festival". Mehr News Agency. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Complete screening program of the Tasvir Film Festival at the Ostad Shahnavaz Hall". iFilm. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Introducing the films selected for the 10th Iranian Independent Documentary Cinema Festival". Iranian Agriculture News Agency. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks". Gandom Films Production. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  11. ↑ "'Cutting Through Rocks': Sundance Review". Screen. 27 January 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "2025 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners Announced". Sundance Institute. 31 January 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Meet the Nominees: Documentary". Directors Guild of America. 3 February 2026. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "IDA Member Spotlight: Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni". International Documentary Association. 16 October 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks and the Academy Awards". BBC Persian. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  16. 1 2 "Convergence nominated for News & Doc Emmy!". Grain Media. July 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks". Peyk Magazine. 16 December 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "The Iranian filmmakers' remarkable night at Sundance". Voice of America Persian. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks wins the NPO Doc IDFA Audience Award 2025". IDFA. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "IDA Member Spotlight: Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni". International Documentary Association. 16 October 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  21. ↑ "Edinburgh International Film Festival Awards". Edinburgh International Film Festival. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "Galway Film Fleadh". Galway Film Fleadh. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "Film winners". Giffoni Film Festival. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  24. ↑ "Humanitas Prize". Humanitas Prize. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  25. ↑ "Announcing the winners of the Golden and Silver Doves 2025". DOK Leipzig. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "Melbourne International Film Festival". MIFF. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  27. ↑ "2025 Awards". Newport Beach Film Festival. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  28. ↑ "Festival Awards". San Francisco International Film Festival. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  29. ↑ "The winners of the 72nd Sydney Film Festival". Sydney Film Festival. 16 June 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "Cutting Through Rocks". Autlook Filmsales. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  31. ↑ "Award Winners from the 26th Annual Woodstock Film Festival". Woodstock Film Festival. 18 October 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  32. ↑ "Award Winners from the 26th Annual Woodstock Film Festival". Woodstock Film Festival. 18 October 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  33. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks". Gandom Films Production. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  34. ↑ "Siegerliste 2025". Visions du Réel. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  35. ↑ "NYWIFT Presents 11 Film Festival Awards throughout 2025". New York Women in Film & Television. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  36. ↑ "German Films & Co-Productions at Tallinn 2025". German Films. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  37. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature". DocsBarcelona. 22 January 2026. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  38. ↑ "Montclair Film Announces 2025 Montclair Film Festival Award Winners". Montclair Film. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  39. ↑ "Award Winners of the 22nd ZagrebDox". ZagrebDox. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  40. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks". Docville. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  41. ↑ "Award-winning films". MDOC – Melgaço International Documentary Film Festival. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  42. ↑ "Le palmarès de la 21ème édition". Festival international du film d'Éducation. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  43. ↑ "The Awarded Films of the 22nd Verzio Film Festival". Verzió Film Festival. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  44. ↑ "Awards 2025". Centre Film Festival. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  45. ↑ "Chaos and Control: Exposing Systems That Thrive on Confusion". Berlinale Talents. 14 February 2026. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  46. ↑ "Sundance 2025: AC Returns to Canon Creative Studio in Park City". American Cinematographer. 22 January 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  47. ↑ "More Than Meets the Eye: Master Class in Visual Storytelling". DC/DOX. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  48. ↑ "Cutting Through Rocks". Maysles Documentary Center. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  49. ↑ "Online Event: Inside the Edit with BIPOC Doc Editors: CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS". Sundance Collab. 12 December 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  50. ↑ "Cinematography and the Visual Language of Docs (Nov 19)". DOC NYC. 19 November 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
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