Marzieh Meshkini

Marzieh Meshkini
مرضیه مشکینی
Meshkini at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in 2009
Born1969 (age 54–55)
Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • writer
Years active1996–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1987)​
ChildrenHana Makhmalbaf

Marzieh Meshkini (Persian: مرضیه مشکینی) (born 1969 in Tehran) is an Iranian cinematographer, film director and writer. She is married to filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who wrote the script for her debut film The Day I Became a Woman.[1]

Personal life

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Marzieh Meshkini was born in Tehran in 1969 and studied geology and biology at the University of Tehran.[2]

She is married to director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, whose first wife (Meshkini's sister Fatemeh, who died in a fire) is the mother to his two children Samira and Meysam.[3] Marzieh Meshkini also had a daughter with Makhmalbaf, Hana. All members of the family are filmmakers and are part of the Makhmalbaf Film House.

Work

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Marzieh Meshkini studied cinema at the Makhmalbaf Film School, established as part of the Makhmalbaf Film House in the mid-1990s.[4][5] She has worked on several films from the MFH, including serving as the assistant director on Samira Makhmalbaf's 1998 film, The Apple (Sib), and writing the script for Hana Makhmalbaf's first feature film, Buddha Collapsed out of Shame (Buda az Sharm foru Rikht, 2007).

During the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, there was a relative openness which allowed a number of women, including Meshkini, Samira Makhmalbaf, Rakhshan Banietemad and Mania Akbari to be involved in all types of film: feature, documentary, video art, shorts, etc.[3] Meshkini was thus part of a new wave of female directors who could finally see filmmaking as a legitimate career for women.[6]

In 2000, Meshkini became the first Iranian woman to win awards at the 57th Venice International Film Festival for her debut film, The Day I Became a Woman.[7]

After this, she continued to work on numerous films with the MFH in different capacities. She also directed the Afghanistan-set Stray Dogs (2004) and co-directed The Man Who Came with the Snow (2009).

Critical reception

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Within Meshkini's directorial work, The Day I Became a Woman was especially well-regarded, with Hamid Reza Sadr calling the film "perhaps the quintessential film about contemporary femininity."[6] Sight & Sound called it a "startlingly simple and ravishing debut" [8] and included it in its 2015 list of 100 overlooked films directed by women.[9]

Reviews on Stray Dogs were more divisive. Contrary to his highly favorable review of The Day I Became a Woman Peter Bradshaw described his viewing experience as follows: "What a strange, perplexing and ultimately exasperating film it is."[10]

Censorship

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Hana Makhmalbaf, Marziyeh Meshkini, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, cyclo d'or au festival international des cinémas d'Asie de Vesoul en 2009.

Similar to other prominent directors such as Abbas Kiarostami and Samira Makhmalbaf, Meshkini has positive views on the role of censorship in Iranian cinema. Since American films can not be shown in Tehran, Iranian filmmakers also cannot be influenced by them. This allows the Iranian film world to create a cinema of its own.[11] Censorship forces filmmakers to approach their topics in a new way, and can therefore be a source of inspiration.[2] With The Day I Became a Woman, Meshkini is allegorically testing the limits and flexibility of the Iranian government's censorship rules, especially with regards to the restrictions imposed on the representation of women.[12]

Honors and awards

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Filmography

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Year Title Director Script writer Assistant Director Cinematographer Editor
1998 The Apple ✔
2000 Blackboards ✔
2000 The Day I Became a Woman ✔ ✔
2002 11'09"01 - September 11 ✔
2002 The Afghan Alphabet ✔
2003 At Five in the Afternoon ✔
2004 Stray Dogs ✔ ✔
2005 Sex & Philosophy ✔
2007 Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame ✔
2008 Two-legged Horse ✔
2009 The Man Who Came with the Snow ✔
2013 Ongoing Smile ✔
2014 The President ✔ ✔
2019 Marghe and Her Mother ✔

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (2001-04-20), "Women In Black", Entertainment Weekly, archived from the original on March 19, 2008, retrieved 2008-03-08
  2. ^ Dupont, Joan; Tribune, International Herald (2000-11-24). "An Iranian Traces the Path of a Woman's Life (Published 2000)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  3. ^ a b Naficy, Hamid. (2011–2012). A social history of Iranian cinema. Durham [N.C.]: Duke University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-8223-4754-5. OCLC 707726498.
  4. ^ "Marziyeh | makhmalbaf". www.makhmalbaf.com. Retrieved 2020-08-21.
  5. ^ "Makhmalbaf Film House | makhmalbaf". www.makhmalbaf.com. Retrieved 2020-08-21.
  6. ^ a b Ṣadr, Ḥamīd Riz̤ā (2006). Iranian cinema : a political history. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-4294-6254-9. OCLC 122913774.
  7. ^ "Farsi Cinema À La Biennale Di Venezia – A History – FCC". Retrieved 2020-08-21.
  8. ^ Atkinson, Michael. "The Day I Became a Woman". Sight & Sound. 20: 95.
  9. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (2015). "The Day I Became a Woman". Sight & Sound. 25 (6): 36.
  10. ^ "Stray Dogs". The Guardian. 2006-08-17. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  11. ^ Dupont, Joan; Tribune, International Herald (2000-11-24). "An Iranian Traces the Path of a Woman's Life (Published 2000)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  12. ^ Kempley, Rita. "Iran's 'Woman,' on the Verge". The Washington Post.
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