Veiled artists: An investigation into the status of Iranian women through the works of Iranian women filmmakers in post-revolutionary cinema

Abstract

This thesis is about women and cinema in post-Revolutionary Iran, demonstrated by a study of the works of two pioneer women filmmakers: Tahmineh Milani and Rakhshan Banietemad. The thesis investigates the works of these filmmakers from two viewpoints: 1) as women and 2) as women filmmakers living in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thus, the thesis considers the cinematic rules and regulations set by the Islamic Republic of Iran and shows how Iranian women filmmakers try to stretch the cinematic limitations to portray the reality of women and their issues in Islamised Iran. To do this, it draws on original interviews conducted in Iran with women and men involved in film culture, as well as with Milani, Banietemad and the government officials who are involved in administration of the film industry. This thesis will consider the socio-political factors which have affected the status of women and cinema in post-Revolutionary Iran (since 1979), with a study of the situation of women in traditional Iranian society; women’s movements and activities; the history, establishment, and representation of women in post-Revolutionary Iranian film, including the emergence of new cinema.