Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Set in South Estonia, the film explores the old tradition of smoke sauna and chooses to do so in the context of women's solidarity: when they perform the sauna ritual together, they have nothing to hide. So they open up and tell their stories, crying out their pain and fears, sometimes they sing and get out to bathe in the lake (even when it's icy! - they cut a hole in the ice), but most often they just let each other get it off their chest and just listen. By this listening they teach us to listen too, with no judgement but with a lot of empathy and compassion and an open heart. The body is washed, the ritual is performed, now it's the turn for the pain to go. And if it comes again, which it definitely will, they know where to go.

Very intimate, empowering and full of revelation.

No pun intended - this is a sisterhood, just not the one I had seen a movie about a while ago. Actually just to be clear, the title (which I liked and made me want to watch it, even without having any clue what it would be about) tells us what this will be about ... a Sauna sisterhood ... which also means you will be seeing a lot of nudity. If that is something that makes you feel uncomfortable ... it is not sexualized in case you wonder .. but it is out there (sorry for the pun) ... well maybe you should not watch the movie.

This is more about life affirming, but also quite heavy topics. Stuff you may or may not discuss during the cleansing of the body can occur. It is about the women that were filmed. It feels like a movie almost (it is a documentary) .. because it is well edited I reckon. Be sure you want to listen or just watch what is happening ... there is calm, but there is also some storm(y topics) ... be advised and act or watch accordingly.

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Smoke Sauna Sisterhood" is a documentary about 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. This documentary is pretty strange and weird, but I really like this film.

Throughout, the visual presentation and sound designs helps to capture the essence of a sauna, tone, and environment of Estonia. The words expressed from the participants are interesting as they helped to provide quite memorizing discussions about womanhood and their bodies. Each direction felt like the film was taking a half documentary and half narrative type style with beautiful soundtrack and writing throughout.

The idea of people going in saunas to have spiritual experiences is quite fascinating.

This won the Directing, Screenwriting and Editing award for the World Dramatic Documentary Competition and I can see why. The writing, directing and style of editing is really good and the award was well-deserved.

Rating: A-

This is a visually stunning film, shot at an Estonian Smoke Sauna and its surroundings, with cinematic footage throughout. The film is completely shot in Direct Cinema style. We are there with the women watching as the scenes take place. There are no interviews, no narration, only meticulously edited sequences that together tell a story that grows as the film advances, from childhood memories to traumas that must be exorcised in the intimate heat of the sauna. Masterfully done. As the personal stories are shared, we see a theme emerge: millennia of oppression of women. Because there's no narration or interviews, the theme emerges naturally and the film does not feel preachy: the individual stories are a part of a larger collective story.

This film moved me more than I was expecting. Following a group of women through the year, and with the focus of the practical and cultural significance of the sauna from birth to death, with elements of the spiritual, this was an intimate and often raw experience. The setting is beautiful and evocative of the lived experience for these women. Knowing more about Finland than Estonia, I enjoyed the similarities of language and culture. From the women's conversations, much is shared regarding societal expectations, the changing nature and attitudes of the society and the legacy of what has gone before.