At the gateway to the Lut Desert, in the province of Kerman, Iran, the ancient caravanserai of Shafi Abad becomes the site of an unexpected video workshop. Director Hamed Zolfaghari provides a group of housewives with cameras, just as they’re starting to organize a co-operative to control every step of the fabrication and sale of their handicraft products. No longer reliant on middlemen or constrained by their rural identity, the women gain better incomes and more personal freedom, and they record, almost in real time, their own process of independence. “The day I picked up a camera, everything changed for me,” joyfully affirms a participant. As they document the changes in their lives, as well as the pushback from conservative villagers, Zolfaghari and the members of the Gojino cooperative give us a vibrant example of collaborative and empowering filmmaking.