RULE BREAKERS

Release Date

March 7, 2025

Status

Past Projects

Run time

2hr 0min

Directed by

Bill Guttentag

Written by

Bill Guttentag, Jason Brown, Elaha Mahboob

Produced by

Bill Guttentag, Samudrika Arora, Laura Bilodeau Overdeck

Executive Produced by

Roya Mahboob, Elaha Mahboob, Elizabeth Schaeffer Brown, Ben Rimmer

Starring

Nikohl Boosheri as Roya Mahboob, Ali Fazal, Nasser Memarzia, Fahim Fazli, Noorin Gulamgaus, Amber Afzali, Nina Hosseinzadeh, Sara Malal Rowe, Mariam Saraj

About

Rule Breakers tells the inspiring true story of the Afghan Dreamers, the first all-girls robotics team from Afghanistan. Set largely between 2017 and 2019, it follows Roya Mahboob, a visionary young entrepreneur who recruits high school girls to learn robotics and coding, defying fathers, uncles, tradition, and a dangerous political climate to build a highly skilled team that goes on to compete on the world stage. Their success draws global attention, and with it both hope and opposition, igniting a movement around girls' education and STEM.

Directed and co-written by two-time Academy Award winner Bill Guttentag, the film stars Nikohl Boosheri as Roya Mahboob alongside Ali Fazal and Nasser Memarzia, and was filmed in Marrakesh and Budapest. It premiered in Los Angeles on February 12, 2025, and was released in theaters by Angel Studios on March 7, 2025, timed to International Women's Day and Women's History Month.