SUNDANCE 2023 Interviews: SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD director Anna Hints, producer Marianne Ostrat

SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD (Director Anna Hints, Producer Marianne Ostrat)

The Sundance description:

Tucked in a lush green forest in southern Estonia, a group of women gather in the safe darkness of a smoke sauna to share their innermost thoughts and secrets. Enveloped by a warm, dense heat, they bare all to expel fears and shame trapped in their bodies and regain their strength.

Director Anna Hints captures this intimate ritual in a stunningly visceral and absorbing way. Her camera engages with the tight space by cradling bodies and faces revealed in chiaroscuro. An exchange of voices share what their bodies have experienced and withstood. The testimonies are deeply personal while also feeling universally recognizable. Hints further immerses us into the space with a soundscape saturated with breath and steam. The heat, sweat, and corporeality are palpable. At times, the women’s anatomies become landscapes, the sweat like rain. Moments outside in the cool light of the forest offer a release dispersed throughout the experience. It’s a beautiful privilege to be allowed into this healing space, and Hints honors the tradition and the empowered vulnerability of women with her striking and engrossing portrait.

My personal thoughts: I say this during the interview, but it bears repeating an emphasis: As a man watching this incredible documentary, I felt privileged to hear what I was hearing form these women, to be present in their midst as they were going through such an intimate, emotionally revealing process. Much is made (rightfully so) of the truth that men need to shut up and listen more to women. So much gets in the way of our understanding of one another and the use of the phrase “safe space” has been weaponized against anyone wanting to just have a fucking moment to figure stuff out and this film is the epitome of what a safe space can achieve and how valuable it can be. Finally, it’s important to note that Anna Hints took home Sundance’s Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary for this powerful feature debut.