*CFP* "THE FILMS OF RAKHSHAN BANIETEMAD", REFOCUS SERIES

Rakhshan Benietemad is one of the first Iranian female directors with a career spanning over 40 years. Besides leaving a rich legacy through both her documentaries and fiction films, she has been an influential figure in Iranian film industry. This is evident especially in her endorsement and collaboration in establishing ‘Karestan’, a documentary initiative to produce documentary films on Iranian entrepreneurs.

Rakhshan Banietemad along with other female pioneers such as Pouran Derakhshandeh and Tahmineh Milani not only have paved the way for women to enter the film industry in Iran, she has also helped transform the representation of women in Iranian films. Incorporating stories from her research and documentaries into her fiction films has created some of the best female-centric social realist films coming out of Iran. Although Rakhshan Banietemad and her films have been subject of much scholarly writing, there are many aspects of her films that have not been scrutinised in full, in a cohesive study such as the proposed one. The proposed anthology intends to put together a comprehensive and fresh study of her work. Chapters focusing on both single films and themes or her work as a whole are welcomed. 

Possible topics could include but are by no means limited to:

• Analysis of individual films (including shorts and documentaries) 
• Female Authorship 
• Problematising feminism 
• Banietemad and women’s cinema 
• Banietemad and the Iranian film industry 
• Genre and experimentation in Banietemad’s work 
• Men and Masculinity in Banietemad’s work 
• Love and relationships in Banietemad’s work 
• Nation and/or institution, identity and subjectivity in Banietemad’s work 
• Politics and aesthetics in Banietemad’s work 
• Private and public spaces in Banietemad’s work

Please send your 500-750 word proposal and CV to the editor of the volume, Maryam Ghorbankarimi, at the latest by 15 April 2019. Our volume will be published by the University of Edinburgh Press in the ReFocus series on international directors. Series editors are Robert Singer, Gary D. Rhodes and Stefanie Van de Peer.

Final submissions will be between 6,000 and 8,000 words, in English, and referenced in Chicago endnote style. We are anticipating a Winter 2019 submission date.

Please direct any enquiries or questions to:

Dr Maryam Ghorbankarimi (University of Lancaster)

Email: m.ghorbankarimi@lancaster.uk.ac

Deadline for proposals: 15 April 2019

Deadline for chapters: 30 September 2019