Tahmineh Milāni (; born 1960) is an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist, and film director and producer.

Early career

She was born in 1960 in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

, Iran. After graduating in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

from the University of Science and Technology in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

in 1986, she apprenticed as a script girl and an assistant director following a screening workshop in 1979.

Directing career

Milani's directing career has produced award-winning films, such as '' Two Women'', The 5th Reaction, and The Unwanted Woman. Her films often focus on cultural or social issues, including

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

. Milani states that one of the most important issues in Iran is the inability to express one's true personality, claiming that Iranian men and women lead double lives. Her early films resembled

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

s, such as her 1990 offering ''Efsanye-e Ah'' (''The Legend of a Sigh''), which featured a character who, after failing as an author, befriends her sigh of despair. The sigh goes on to teach her of women with much larger problems in the world, yet remain happy. Two years later, in ''Dige Che Khabar'' (''What Did You Do Again?''), Milani told the story of a young girl with the power to change her family simply by talking to herself. Iranian censors fought against the film, instructing her to replace the female lead with a young boy. Hard-line conservatives accused Milani of encouraging women to revolt against the current system. She deflected the criticisms, insisting that the men were merely scared of seeing their wives riot because of her films. In her later films, Milani adopted a more

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

tic style and focused more on

gender issues Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other than ...

and her female characters became the subject of intense oppression and discrimination. The government charged Milani as an anti-revolutionary due to the storyline of her 2001 anti-revolutionary film ''Nimeh-e Pinhan'' (''The Hidden Half''), which revolved around a leftist university student against the regime of

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi. The film's primary love story also drew criticism for its depiction of the main character's relationship with an older man. Despite receiving permission to produce the film from the reformist Khatami government, she was imprisoned in 2001. A backlash from many world-famous directors including

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

caused the government to release her after two weeks, but official charges were never dropped.

Milani's 2005 film ''Unwanted Woman'' tells the story of a woman forced to cover up a journey with her friend because of a law banning travel for unmarried couples. ''Vakonesh Panjom'' (''The Fifth Reaction'') is the story of a woman who leaves her wealth, home, and children after the death of her husband. ''The Fifth Reaction'', released in 2003, is Tahmineh Milani's seventh movie regarding women's social position and rights in a

patriarchal society Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

. For example, in ''Vakonesh Panjom'' (''The Fifth Reaction''), Milani addresses the problems of

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

social inequality Social inequality occurs when resources within a society are distributed unevenly, often as a result of inequitable allocation practices that create distinct unequal patterns based on socially defined categories of people. Differences in acce ...

and injustice, and mainly laws ignoring women's rights in child custody cases, to awaken women and to inspire them to fight for their rights. While often exaggerated for cinema-goers, the films' topics draw clear parallels to life in a theocratic Iran. In 2007, Milani announced that she was going to make an

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-focused TV series for the

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; ) or Seda va Sima () for short, formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian revolution of 1979, is an Iranian state-controlled media corporation that holds a monopo ...

with the title ''The Positive Pals Club ''. Her film ''Yeki Az Mā Do Nafar (One of Our Two)'' screened in Iranian halls in 2011. She wrote and directed the film ''Principles'', which was criticized as stilted and preachy. In 2016, Milani presented an exhibition of photography at the Ariana Gallery in Tehran."Filmmaker Tahmineh Milani tries her hand at photography"
''Tehran Times'' Sharareh Samei

Accusations of plagiarism

In September 2018, following an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

of Milani's paintings at an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

in Tehran, accusations emerged on social media accusing Milani of

plagiarizing Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of anothe ...

Russian

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

Jenny Meilihove. In response, Milani offered an apology stating: "I'm so sorry and I will withdraw the painting from the showcase and compensate for the loss. The image of a postcard I had received in the past recorded on my unconscious and the result was the painting" and added that all the money raised by the exhibit would go to charity. Additionally, Milani filed a lawsuit against the art gallery over early closure of her exhibition and "against those people who brought chaos to the exhibition". In 2019, while organizing an exhibition of her paintings at Ariana Gallery, a major art center in Tehran, Miliani was again accused of plagiarizing four different artists, including Matteo Arfanotti, Sara Riches, Richard Burlet and Masumeh Mehdizadeh. The Supervisory Council for Gallery Activities issued an official warning to the gallery, and stated "Ariana Gallery has not properly observed professional regulations in ascertaining the authenticity and quality of the artworks". The council remarked that an investigation into the accusations of plagiarism will proceed if a lawsuit is filed against Milani. In response, Milani published a post on her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

stating "In this way, I draw inspiration from everything and everyone." In June 2019, Mahyar Bahram Asl, an Iranian graduate student and painter, was sentenced to 35 lashings under the charge of insulting Milani by accusing her of plagiarism.

Personal life

She is married to Iranian actor and producer Mohammad Nikbin.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Tahminyeh Milāni official website
(Persian & English) * Interview with Tahmineh Milani, 6 August 2007 on bebin.tv :* :* * Interview on IRIB, uploaded 20 June 2008 on Revver :
Tahmineh Milani criticizes New Woman Parks (6 min 40 sec)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milani, Tahmineh Iranian women film directors Iranian film directors Iranian women's rights activists Living people Film people from Tabriz Iran University of Science and Technology alumni Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay winners 1960 births