Widely recognized as one of Iran’s leading filmmakers, Banietemad directed her first feature film Off Limits in 1987. With 1991’s Nargess she became the first woman ever awarded the Best Director award at Tehran’s Fajr International Film Festival. In 1995, she won the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for The Blue Veiled. Her next film, Under the Skin of the City, was the highest grossing film in Iran in 2000. Gilaneh (2005) was selected for more than 49 festivals including Tribeca, Toronto, and Pusan. Mainline (2006) also won numerous domestic awards including the APSA for Achievement in Directing in 2007. In 2008, she received an honorary doctorate from London University and in 2010 she was awarded the Prix Henri Langlois from the Vincennes International Film Festival.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
