There is something primal and movingly powerful about Anna Hints’ gloriously immersive film Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Savvusanna sõsarad) – which took a Special Jury Award for Directing at Sundance 2023. Set against the hot, supportive and immersive backdrop of a southern Estonian smoke sauna in snowy woods, women sit, laugh, talk, sing and relish the profound camaraderie they share.
Though this group of women share deep moments and reflections about their lives, the film is not so much about these stories (the film rarely frames a specific person as they are speaking). It is more about the ritual of sharing within the heat of the sauna and it speaks volumes that Hints and her crew can become one with the space and yet never feel as if they are intruding on the almost ceremonial nature of what these women share.
Chants of “become, become mighty!” and “become, become powerful” in darkness announce Smoke Sauna Sisterhood before opening visually with footage of a naked woman holding a gently wriggling baby. This sets the tone of the film, which is largely set amongst the naked women as they chat, dunk themselves in freezing water, sing and revel in the tradition.
“Smoke sauna is a sacred place where you cleanse yourself,” says a woman, glimpsed in the steam. “When you wash yourself clean – it is a blessing….We thank the person who heats the sauna. Also the person who brought the water. ”
An early scene follows a woman cutting at the ice on a lake and gradually carving out a hole. She walks back to a cabin in the snowy woods where she lights a fire. Steam fills the air as the sauna build in temperature and as women arrive. “Greetings dear sauna” they say as they take seats and pour water onto the rock – they lay in the steam, scrub each other and – quite simply – talk.
The film recounts history, making clear that this tradition is on a UNESCO list of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” and reinforces its importance in terms of being a vital “place” or location as well as detailing the physical benefits that can derive from spending time in a sauna. The women visit the sauna through various seasons where they can “sweat out all the pain”, both physical and emotional. The conversations are as varied as the different shapes of the women who share sauna time together, with their nakedness reflecting the openness of their conversations. Everything is shared on the basis of there being no judgment.
Anna Hints’ film is both beautiful and gently profound as it offers a delicate and supportive insight into the lives of these women. The small wooden sauna may well be modest and simple but it provides and intimate and immersive place for emotional and physical barriers to be dropped and for emotional and vital conversations to be had. A moving and triumphant film, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood deserves its awards and attention.
Estonia-France-Iceland, 2023, 99mins
Dir/scr: Anna Hints
Production: Alexandra Film, Kepler 22 Production, Ersus Parvus
Producer: Marianne Ostrat
Cinematography: Ants Tamik
Editors: Qutaiba Barhamji, Anna Hints, Hendrik Magar, Martin Mannik, Tushar Prakash
Music: Eeter, Edvard Egilsson
With: Kadi Kivilo, Maria Meresaar, Elsa Saks, Marianne Liiv, Eva Kubar, Liis Kuresoo, Eda Veeroja, Maris Aasa
