Iran charges filmmaker, actress daughter over veil

TEHRAN—Iranian authorities on Wednesday indicted a leading woman filmmaker and her actress daughter with violating the Islamic dress code by appearing in public without the veil, the judiciary said.

“The Tehran prosecutor charged filmmaker Rakhshan Banietemad and her daughter, actress Baran Kosari, after they removed their hijab in public,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

Banietemad, 70, is one of Iran’s first female screenwriters and film directors and has received several awards at the Tehran Fajr film festival, the country’s largest.

Her daughter Kosari, 38, received the best actress award at the festival in 2015.

On Tuesday, pictures of the two without the mandatory head scarf at a film event were posted online and immediately went viral.

Since the 1979 revolution in Iran, failing to wear the headscarf in public is considered a crime and a violation of the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.

Iranian and foreign women alike must abide by the code.