Tehran, Iran. Sonita is 18 and a refugee from Afghanistan. She lives in a shelter with her sister and her niece, where she leads a difficult life. Sonita dreams only of one thing: to rap. When she learns that her family plans to sell her to an unknown man for $9,000, she decides to fight back and escape this fate.

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The relationship between director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami and artist Sonita Alizadeh goes beyond the simple relationship between filmmaker and subject. Accompanied, listened to and even helped by the filmmaker over three years of filming, Alizadeh was able to escape an endless nightmare and realize her musical dreams. This is also why Sonita is a fascinating documentary, one not content to just tap into a subject. Instead the camera includes the boom operator and director in the frame at a key points to make the audience understand that the point is to save the girl, not exploit her. Sonita is a precious documentary that is highly recommended.