Smoke Sauna Sisterhood / Film School Radio interview with Director Anna Hints

The first documentary by an Estonian director to compete and win at the Sundance Film Festival, 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, inspired by her South-East Estonian culture of Võromaa and Setomaa, and the profound teachings of her Võro granny, 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. In the darkness of a smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences, washing off the shame trapped in their bodies and regaining their strength through a sense of communion. Women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences inside an Estonian smoke sauna. Cleansing their bodies and baring their souls, they embrace the healing power of sisterhood. Anna Hints’ Sundance-winning documentary celebrates the centuries-old smoke sauna tradition, recognized on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The impact of SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD on the communities represented in the film has been profound. Viewers have connected emotionally with the stories, finding solidarity and empowerment in the shared experiences of these brave women. Director Anna Hints joins us for a conversation on what brought her to documenting this sacred space where women give birth, wash the dead, and express their vulnerability, found self-acceptance, and a collective empowerment for generation upon generation.. For more go to: greenwichentertainment.com/smoke-sauna-sister