Rakhshan Banietemad, born in 1954 in Tehran, began to make documentaries for the Iranian National Television in 1979, right after graduating from the University of Dramatic Arts, Tehran. From 1979 to 1987, she focused on making only documentaries. In 1987, she directed her first feature film, Off the Limits. In 1991, she became the first woman recipient of the Best Director award for Nargess at the Fajr International Film Festival in Iran. 1995, she won the Bronze Leopard for The Blue Veiled at the Locarno Film Festival. Her next film, Under the Skin of the City, was the highest-grossing film in Iran in 2000. This film and Gilaneh (2005) and Mainline (2006) garnered significant awards at over 50 film festivals.

While Banietemad's feature films have been acclaimed and honoured worldwide, her documentaries have also been successful and popular internationally. Our Times was the first documentary ever to be released in the movie theatres in Iran in 2002. It was also screened in prestigious and prominent festivals and on TV channels such as IDFA, Sundance Film Festival, and ARTE.

Banietemad started her work by making documentaries and has never lost the strong connection she has always had with her works. Making documentaries has been her main way of connecting with society and social issues. Her approach to depicting social issues has been so strong and effective that her works have always resulted in changes in the lives of her documentaries' characters.

In 2008, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of London, and in 2010, she was awarded the Prix Henri Langlois from the Vincennes International Film Festival. Her latest feature film, Tales, was awarded the Best Screenplay prize in the main competition section of the 2014 Venice International Film Festival.

More recently, she joined the Academy Oscar Writers branch in 2017.