The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is pleased to present a retrospective dedicated to the filmmaking of Bani Khoshnoudi, a major section of the lineup for its 29th edition. This unique program, spanning the entirety of her career, offers a deeper look into the work of one of the most relevant contemporary documentarians of her generation. Alongside this announcement, the festival is launching the presale of early-bird passports for its new edition, which will run from November 19 to 29, 2026.
Bani Khoshnoudi: Territories of Memory
Filmmaker, visual artist and archivist Bani Khoshnoudi has been directing documentaries, fiction films and experimental short films for over twenty years, as well as creating installations and performing. Widely recognized on the international scene, her work has been presented at Visions du Réel, Cinéma du réel and the Viennale, as well as Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Serralves Foundation in Porto and the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City. It explores several topics that are significant to our present day, such as exile, displacement, memory, violence, solidarity and the fight
for freedom. Her documentaries cover the social and political events of the past two decades in Iran.
They paint a sensitive portrait of Iranian society, revealing the tension between the aspirations of a
people looking for change and the rigid framework of a regime that imposes restrictions and
repression. Partially shot in both France and Mexico, where she lives in exile, her films have a resolutely
political bent and evolve through the constant exploration of cinema’s narrative and aesthetic
possibilities, all while maintaining a remarkable artistic coherence.
The retrospective will unfold around the feature-length documentaries A People in the Shadows, The
Silent Majority Speaks and The Vanishing Point, as well as her feature-length fiction film Luciérnagas.
It will also include a short film program including CEM, Sap, El Chinero, un cerro fantasma and Elegy
for the Forgotten, on an Endless War. In addition, Bani Khoshnoudi will propose the installation
Scaffold, and what time has taught us, present a conference on her cinematic process, and take part
in discussions after each screening of her films.
Bani Khoshnoudi will also participate in the Regards croisés project—driven by Cinéma du Musée with
the support of the Conseil des arts de Montréal—in which she will engage in a dialogue with filmmaker
Miryam Charles and her work.
The retrospective Bani Khoshnoudi: Territories of Memory is made possible with the support of the
Consulat général de France à Québec, which is facilitating the presence of the filmmaker in Montreal
during the festival.
The 29th edition of the RIDM will take place from November 19 to 29, 2026.