Banietemad has developed a unique ability to push against political and social boundaries while maintaining her work’s accessibility. Her criticism is woven into everyday life—poverty, bureaucracy, war’s aftermath—not through overt protest, but through compassionate storytelling. In Under the Skin of the City (2000), she captures the frustrations of working-class Tehranis without turning their pain into melodrama. In Tales (2014), she revisits characters from her earlier films, showing how little has changed—an act of subtle defiance in a system where continuity of struggle is often silenced.
