TATAMI is an intense political thriller inspired by real events.
Iranian female judoka Leila (Arienne Mandy) and her coach Maryam (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), who travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the competition, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: feign injury and comply with the Iranian regime as Maryam implores her to do, or defy them both and fight on, for the gold.
Directed by Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Best Actor at Cannes for HOLY SPIDER in 2022) and Guy Nattiv (Oscar winner for his short film SKIN in 2018), TATAMI had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and got the Brian Prize. A special reward for films that defends freedom of expression, human rights and democracy.
Special Jury Prize, Tokyo International Film Festival, 2023, jp
Fritz-Gerlich-Preis, Munich Film Festival, 2023, de
Special Mention, International Competition, Brussels International Film Festival, 2024, be
Guy Nattiv
Born in Tel Aviv in 1973, Guy Nattiv graduated from his home city’s Camera Obscura film school, having previously worked in advertising for Publicis Groupe. He made several award-winning short films, including 2018’s racial Skin, a tale of racial hate crime, which won the 2018 Academy Award for best live short. His feature film of the same name was also released in 2018. Golda, his biopic about Golda Meir, is selected for the Festival in 2023, and he is back in 2024 with a new biopic about the Iranian judoka Leila Hosseini.
Born on 9 July 1981 in Tehran, Zar Amir Ebrahimi is a Franco-Iranian actress, producer and director. After studying theatre in Tehran, she directed her first short film Khat in 2000. Her role in the Iranian series Nargess (2006) brought her to public attention. In 2017, she starred in Tehran Taboo, directed by Ali Soozandeh and presented at Cannes as part of Critics’ Week. She set up her own production company in 2019 and that same year, alongside actress Golshifteh Farahani, received the Hamburg Award for Cultural Freedom; the Persian Spring Festival in Hamburg rewarded their struggles as independent Iranian artists and women.
In 2022 she won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her role as the journalist Rahimi in the film Holy Spider (2022) by director Ali Abbasi. She also worked as casting director and producer on the film. She is the first Iranian woman to receive this distinction.
