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.
