While the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war rages on far away from Baku, Azerbaijan, Banu has four days to find someone to support her in court against her influential soon to be ex-husband, Javid. He is trying to get full custody of their son Ruslan by claiming that Banu suffers from psychiatric issues. Banu embarks on a journey to find someone to help her in a society in which everyone’s attention is preoccupied with the ongoing war.
A modern Azerbaijani woman’s life is non stop all day as she juggles traditional and secular roles, her life subsumed by service for others while rarely getting the respect she deserves. Throughout the film we see how things are changing in progressive Azerbaijan, and how some things don’t change; like her, it is a country at a crossroads of seeming contradictions. This is the story of "a" woman, elements of whom are universal.
Tahmina Rafaella is an Azerbaijani filmmaker and actress. In 2015, she wrote and starred in “Inner City”, a feature film which was funded by the Ministry of Culture & Tourism of Azerbaijan. The film screened and competed at multiple film festivals internationally. Her directorial debut, “A Woman”, which she also wrote, produced and acted in, premiered at Palm Springs ShortFest. It won awards at numerous film festivals. “Banu” is her feature film directorial debut.