Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
15
Why watch?
“It's such a beautiful film. It's about a group of Estonian women who go to a smoke sauna throughout the year and really open up to each other. And I think the film shows really well how saunas can be a place of community. And that's what we're really trying to build at Leeds Community Sauna.”
Amani,
Leeds Community Sauna Founder
The sauna-based rituals carried out by women of the Voro community of Estonia are so unique that they appear on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Anna Hints’ captivating film places us at the heart of this world. As the women unwind and talk, there is humour born of their familiarity with each other and of shared experiences, but there are also tales of pain and suffering. With few key exceptions, Hints’ camera focuses on the women listening rather than those doing the talking, further enveloping us in this world.
There is a frankness to the way she films her subjects – the close-ups on bodies are both matter of fact and beautiful but never salacious. And the subtle sound design, combined with Edvard Egilsson’s atmospheric choral score, adds to the uniqueness of this intimate environment. celebrates female solidarity and community through a group of Estonian women who continue an age-old tradition.
This screening is in partnership with Leeds Community Sauna.
Leeds Community Sauna is creating an accessible, affordable sauna space at the peaceful, nature-rich Kirkstall Valley Farm, opening Autumn 2025. Featuring two saunas and multiple cold plunge options, the space is designed to support everyone's wellbeing. As a not-for-profit co-operative rooted in community, they will offer bookable sessions that provide a chance to connect—with ourselves, with others, and with nature.
You can keep up to date with progress and volunteering opportunities on their Instagram.
Details
“Anna Hint ignites an appreciation for the long-standing cultural custom of smoke sauna, in a visceral portrait that centres the female experience and the human need for connection.”
The Indiependent
“The outstanding power and importance of this film lie in the fact that, shown from the most intimate vicinity, the women and their bodies testify to the history of oppression that we are only gradually learning about.”
Modern Times Review
“Part of the film’s transcendent appeal is the result of specific formal choices made by Hint... The soundscape is precise and evocative... Ants Tammik’s camerawork is similarly inspired, especially in the framing of the women’s bodies which are displayed without prudery but also without prurience.”
Variety