روسری آبی | The Blue-Veiled / Roosari Abi (1995)

Rasoul Rahmani owns a tomato farm and the factory next to it. He lost his wife some years ago and lives alone. Roosari Abi, released internationally as The Blue-Veiled, begins when a young woman named Nobar comes to work on his land, and it grows into one of the most admired Iranian dramas of the 1990s.

A Farm Owner and a Woman Who Supports Her Family

Nobar Kordani is the one who holds her household together, and she has no choice but to work. She is hired with several other women to work on Rahmani's farm. The meeting between the lonely older landowner and the determined young worker becomes the emotional centre of the film, and it raises questions about class, age and what other people, including his own family, consider acceptable.

Ezzatollah Entezami and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya

Ezzatollah Entezami plays Rasoul Rahmani and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya plays Nobar. The supporting cast includes Golab Adineh, Jamshid Esmailkhani, Afsar Asadi, Reza Fayazi, Baran Kosari, Behnaz Jafari, Farhad Aslani and Nadia Deldar Golchin.

Behind the camera

Banietemad wrote and directed, and Majid Modarresi produced. Aziz Saati was the director of photography, Abbas Ganjavi edited the film and Ahmad Pejman composed the music. Jozan Film handled distribution.

Crystal Simorghs and Locarno's Bronze Leopard

At the 13th Fajr Film Festival the film won the Crystal Simorgh for best screenplay for Banietemad and best supporting actress for Golab Adineh. Internationally it won the Bronze Leopard at the 48th Locarno International Film Festival, the FIPRESCI prize at the Thessaloniki festival and a special jury prize in the Asian women filmmakers section at the International Film Festival of India. Banietemad was also honoured for directing by the Iranian Directors' Guild.

A Box-Office Success as Well

The Blue-Veiled was not only a festival film. It was the third-highest-grossing release of 1374 in Iran, which shows how strongly the story connected with local audiences. It also helped establish Banietemad as one of the leading Iranian directors of her generation, known for socially engaged stories centred on women.

What makes it worth revisiting

The film stands out for the way it treats an unconventional relationship with seriousness and warmth. Entezami's performance as a man rediscovering feeling late in life, and Motamed-Arya's as a woman carrying responsibilities far beyond her age, keep the drama grounded.

Roosari Abi: Your Questions

Roosari Abi is a classic of 1990s Iranian cinema and a good starting point for anyone discovering Banietemad's work.