Director: Anna Hints
Country: Estonia, France, Iceland
Language(s): Estonian, Seto, Vхro, with English subtitles
Runtime: 89 mins
Synopsis:
In the darkness of smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences. Through a sense of communion, women wash off the shame trapped in their bodies and regain their strength. The first documentary by an Estonian director to compete and win at Sundance, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is a deeply moving, intimate and breathtaking approach to issues of trauma, healing, and community. Filmed almost as if a Vermeer or Rembrandt painting, the camera is never intrusive, never mechanical. Rather, the images move as the smoke – lingering, wafting, suspended briefly before disappearing and reappearing. With an authentic voice and authority born of their own heritage, filmmaker Anna Hints has created a transformative experience of being human within a female body, showing women “as they are” with great emotional veracity and deep empathy.
Winner: Sundance Film Festival Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary
Estonia's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards®
LUX Audience Award Nominee 2024
