Bani-Etemad is the Iranian director and screenwriter. She graduated in film direction from the Academy of Drama Arts in Iran, in 1973 she began working for the Iranian television. As assistant director she made several documentaries and directed her first feature film Off the limits (Kharej az Mahdudeh) in 1987. Afterwards she made Canary Yellow (Zard-e Ghanari, 1989) and Foreign Exchange (Pul-e Khareji, 1990), and in 1991 with her film Nargess, se became the first woman who won the award as Best director at the Fajr International Film Festival in Teheran. Her film The Blue Veiled (Rusari Abi) won the Bronze Leopard at the International Film Festival in Locarno in 1995. Afterwards she made The May Lady (Banoo-Ye Ordibehesht, 1998), Under the Skin of the City (Zir-e poost-e shahr) which was the biggest grossing film in Iran in 2000, Gilane (2005) and her ninth feature film Mainline (Khoon bazi, 2006).