Rakhshān Banietemad (Persian: رخشان بنیاعتماد; born April 3, 1954, in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. She is often referred to as the "First Lady of Iranian Cinema" due to her prominent role in the country's film industry and her ability to merge political themes with personal and family narratives in her work.[1] Banietemad is known for exploring societal issues through her characters, who often represent various segments of Iranian society.
Her earlier works were marked by the use of dark humour to (latter on) humour which gave way to a more serious and expansive exploration of societal concerns. Her films often address a wide range of issues such as: the evolving roles of women, poverty, war, domestic abuse, social mobility, and balancing a portrayal of harsh realities with a sense of hope for change.[2]
Banietemad's films frequently focus on women, with characters such as Tooba (Golab Adineh), Nobar (Fatemah Motamed-Aria), and Sara (Baran Kosari) representing different facets of women's experiences in Iran. These characters are often revisited and reinterpreted over time, reflecting the changes in Iranian society and culture.
Early in her career, Banietemad focused primarily on documentary filmmaking. Even after achieving international recognition for her feature films, she continued to create documentaries. Her 2002 film OurTimes (Ruz-egar-e ma) became the first documentary to be released in theaters in Iran. The film was also broadcast on the Franco-German network ARTE and screened at several renowned international festivals, including the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and the Sundance Film Festival. Banietemad has maintained a strong connection to documentary filmmaking, emphasizing its ongoing importance in her career.[3]
Early life and education
Rakhshan Banietemad was born in Tehran, Iran, on April 3, 1954, into a middle-class family. Although her parents encouraged her to pursue a career in teaching, she demonstrated an interest in film from a young age. As a teenager, she decided to study film, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in film studies from the Dramatic Arts University in Tehran.[4] Initially, Banietemad had planned to study architecture. Just before entering university, she took an exam for an intensive stage assistance course by the School of Television and Cinema, and was one of the 20 students accepted. She studied both architecture and stage assistance, but the following year, she took the national exam for the faculty of dramatic arts and chose to focus on film directing.[3]
Banietemad started her directing career with documentaries, with early works including The Culture of Consumption (Farhang-e masrafi), Occupation of Migrant Peasants in the City (Mohajerin-e roustai dar shahr) and The War Economic Planning (Tadbirha-ye eqtesadi-e-jang). Her early documentary film-making influenced her narrative films later on.[5]
In 1973, after completing her degree, Banietemad began working as a script supervisor for the Iranian television network IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting). Later, in 1980, she directed television documentary features.[4] Her films are steeped in Iran's social and economic context.[6]
Banietemad has mentioned that her stories come from the development of characters she saw during her documentary film-making. For example, the story of Nargess is from a documentary about homeless women, the character of Touba in the film Under the Skin of the City (2001) is the result of her research in a documentary on working women, and the character of "Kabootar" in the movie The Blue Veiled comes out of the character of a rough and harsh woman who was even called "Mr. Ghodrat" (Ghodrat means a power which is a male name).[5]
In 1981, Banietemad began working in cinema as a script supervisor on films such as The Liegemen and Chrysanthemum. In 1987, she directed her first feature film Off the Limits. She then revised the script for Canary Yellow and directed it.[2]
1990s to Present
She earned critical and popular acclaim in 1991 with Nargess.[4] She received the Best Director Award from the Fajr Film Festival, marking the first time in the history of the festival that a woman was awarded this prize. Since then, she has received numerous awards for her films, including a Bronze Leopard Award for The Blue-Veiled at the 1995 Locarno Film Festival.[4] Under the Skin of the City won her the Best Foreign Language Film Award and the Audience Award at the 2001 Turin Film Festival.[2]
With her 2002 documentary film Our Times, Banietemad became the first female filmmaker to explicitly confront the Iran-Iraq war, placing her in an important role in Iranian film history.[4] This was also the first documentary ever to be shown in Iranian movie theaters and was also shown in prominent film festivals such as IDFA and Sundance Film Festival.
Banietemad released more films during the early 2010s, including Mainline and Tales.[2]Tales was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.[8][9] She also continued making documentaries, collaborating with young filmmakers. Hey, Humans (2016), and The Karastan film series (2013-2017) are examples of Banietemad’s work with amateur filmmakers.[2]
Style
Banietemad is known for her interest in strong female characters dealing with social issues.[4] In her recent films, she often portrays female characters from lower socio-economic backgrounds who are struggling to make a living.[7] She highlights the strength and resilience of Iranian women, seeing them as central to the country’s future. Despite legal, cultural, and economic challenges faced by lower-income women, Banietemad admires their enduring strength.[4]
Her films also explore the complex relationships between mothers and their children, a theme rooted in her own experience as a mother in Iran. This focus reflects the societal expectations of Iranian women, who often find it difficult to separate their personal lives from their maternal roles within the country’s patriarchal structure.[6]
In Tales (2014), Banietemad intertwines seven stories, where her notable female characters reappear, reinforcing the historical and cultural relevance of her earlier works and her impact on the portrayal of women in Iranian cinema.[3]
Although her work prominently features strong female protagonists, Banietemad rejects being labeled a feminist filmmaker. She has expressed her discomfort with the term, particularly in the Iranian context, where "feminist" carries negative connotations. Instead, she focuses on the broader struggles of society’s lower classes, regardless of gender, and prefers not to be categorized under any specific label.[10]
Banietemad’s unique style blends documentary techniques with fictional filmmaking, addressing social issues in Iran while maintaining international appeal. Her films frequently examine the hardships faced by Iran’s lower classes, single women, single mothers, and complex family dynamics. Often, her characters directly address the camera, aligning with documentary conventions.[4]
Legacy
With a collection of films that combine absolute honesty with extraordinary subtlety, Banietemad analyzes the current cultural pressures shaping Iranian women's lives.[11] She is widely recognized among Iranian audiences and critics as one of Iran's most prominent filmmakers and has also enjoyed international popularity.[4]
She was awarded an honorary degree from SOAS in 2008.[12]
Personal life
She is married to Iranian film producer Jahangir Kosari. Their daughter, Baran Kosari, is an Iranian film actress. Kosari began acting at a young age and is now a professional actress. She has appeared in her mother's films, as well as those of other Iranian filmmakers.[6]
Humanitarian actions
Banietemad donated her international prize for the movie Ghesseh-ha to build a shelter for homeless women. She also donated some of her awards to help disadvantaged women.
Cobbey, Rini. "Under the Skin of the City; Under the Surface Contrasts." Film in the Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Josef Gugler. Austin: Texas UP, 2011. 84-93.
^Cobbey, Rini. "Under the Skin of the City; Under the Surface Contrasts." Film in the Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Josef Gugler. Austin: Texas UP, 2011. 84-93.
We are half of the Iranian population (ما نیمی از جمعیت ایران هستیم), a non-partisan documentary by Banietemad in which women ask questions of the 2009 Iranian presidential candidates, in Persian, 7 June 2009: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. Note: The text in the opening part of this documentary grants permission for non-profit public viewing.
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