# Smoke Sauna Sisterhood

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Võro: Savvusanna sõsarad, lit. 'Sisters of the smoke sauna') is a 2023 documentary film written and directed by Anna Hints in her feature directorial debut. It is about a group of women who gather in a smoke sauna where they clean the dirt from their ashamed and aching bodies. It was selected as the Estonian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards. It is a co-production between Estonia, France and Iceland.
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 22 January 2023, where it competed in the World Cinema Documentary Competition and won the Directing Award at the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

## Release
### Festivals

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood had its world premiere on 22 January 2023, at the Sundance Film Festival, then it was screened on 17 March of that year at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, on 31 March at the Stockfish Film Festival, on 23 April at the San Francisco International Film Festival, on 13 May at the Millennium Docs Against Gravity, on 18 May at the Barcelona Documentary Film Festival, on 19 May at the Seattle International Film Festival, on 24 June at the Filmfest München, on 31 July at the New Zealand International Film Festival, on 4 August at the Melbourne International Film Festival and on 29 September in the Documentary Competition at the Zurich Film Festival.

### Theatrical

It was commercially released on 23 March 2023, in Estonian theaters. It was released at cinemas in the UK and Ireland from 13 October 2023.

## Reception
### Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 48 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Running the gamut from tears to laughter, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood finds cinematic poetry in the simple act of observing conversation." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

### Accolades

| Year | Award / Festival | Category | Recipient | Result |
| 2023 | Sundance Film Festival | World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Nominated |
| 2023 | Sundance Film Festival | World Cinema Documentary - Directing Award | Anna Hints | Won |
| 2023 | Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival | Next:Wave Award | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Nominated |
| 2023 | Hong Kong International Film Festival | Documentary Competition - Firebird Award | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Nominated |
| 2023 | San Francisco International Film Festival | Best Documentary Feature | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Won |
| 2023 | Filmfest München | CineRebels Award | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Nominated |
| 2023 | 2023 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival | Outstanding Female-Led Feature Film | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Won |
| 2023 | 19th Zurich Film Festival | Documentary Competition | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Nominated |
| 2023 | 27th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival | Best Baltic Film | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Won |
| 2023 | European Film Awards | Best Documentary | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Won |
| 2023 | IDA Documentary Awards | Best Cinematography | Ants Tammik | Won |
| 2023 | IDA Documentary Awards | Best Writing | Anna Hints | Nominated |
| 2023 | Beldocs | Eurimages Audentia Award | Anna Hints | Won |
| 2024 | 17th Cinema Eye Honors | Outstanding Cinematography | Ants Tammik | Won |
| 2024 | 17th Cinema Eye Honors | Outstanding Sound Design | Huldar Freyr Arnarson and Edvard Egilsson | Nominated |
| 2024 | 17th Cinema Eye Honors | Outstanding Debut | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Nominated |
| 2024 | 17th Cinema Eye Honors | Audience Choice Prize | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Nominated |
| 2024 | 35th PGA Awards | Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures | Marianne Ostrat | Nominated |