Leila Hatami
Iranian actress (born 1972)
Ali Mosaffa
(m. 1998)Zari Khoshkam
Leila Hatami (Persian: لیلا حاتمی; born 1 October 1972) is an Iranian actress. Born to filmmaker Ali Hatami and actress Zari Khoshkam, she began her career with acting in the films of her father. She rose to international fame for her role as Simin in Asghar Farhadi's Academy Award-winning film A Separation (2011), for which she received the Silver Bear for Best Actress.
Hatami made her film debut portraying Kamal-ol-molk in the drama Kamalolmolk (1984). She received critical acclaim for playing a sterile woman in the drama Leila (1997),[1] and received her first Fajr Film Festival Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress for her performance in Penniless (2009). The Government of France has awarded her the Legion of Honour in 2012.[2]
Early life
Hatami was born in Tehran. She is the daughter of influential Iranian director Ali Hatami and actress Zari Khoshkam. After finishing high school, she moved to Lausanne, Switzerland and started her studies in Mechanical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). After two years she changed her major to French literature.[3] After completing her studies, she returned to live in Iran.
Career
Hatami played several small roles in her father's productions throughout her youth, including in the Hezar Dastan television series and the Kamalolmolk movie. Her first leading film appearance was the title role in the 1997 film Leila, directed by Dariush Mehrjui. She received the Diploma of Honor for Best Actress from the 15th Fajr Film Festival.[4] Following this, she continued to act regularly in Iranian cinema.
She has starred in dozens of films, and has often garnered critical acclaim and accolades. For her performance in The Deserted Station (2002), she was nominated for the Fajr Film Festival Award for Best Actress and she won the Best Actress Award at the 26th Montreal World Film Festival.[5]
She has appeared in her husband's films as a director, Portrait of a Lady Far Away (2005) and The Last Step (2012). She also designed the sets and the costumes of The Last Step and, in addition to receiving the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance, she received a nomination for the Crystal Simorgh Fajr Film Festival Award for Best Production Design and Costume Design for her work on the film.
In 2012, she received international attention for her role in the critical acclaimed Asghar Farhadi film, A Separation, which won dozens of accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[6] Her performance earned critical acclaim and various awards, including the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival.[7] IndieWire praised her portrayal as one of the best female performances of the 21st century.[8]
In April 2014, she was announced as a member of the main competition jury at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[9] Whilst there, she greeted Cannes President Gilles Jacob with a kiss on the cheek, which is a form of greeting in France.[10] Iran's Deputy Culture Minister Hossein Noushabadi offered criticism of her for this:
"I hope that those who attend international arenas as Iranian women would be careful about the chastity and dignity of Iranians so that the image of the Iranian woman is not tainted before the world," he said. "If they respect Islamic norms and the national culture and beliefs of Iran, it would be a desirable thing for Iranian celebrities to go abroad, but if their presence lacks regard for social values and ethical criteria, the Iranian nation is not going to accept it."[10]
In May 2014, after receiving significant backlash for the kiss in Iran—including calls for her to be flogged—Hatami later apologized for her actions in a letter.[11][12]
Personal life
She married her co-star in Leila (Ali Mosaffa) in 1998. They have two children: a son named Mani (born February 2007) and a daughter named Asal (born October 2008).
Beside her native Persian language she is fluent in French, English, and German.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Kamalolmolk | Young Kamal-ol-molk | Ali Hatami | |
| 1992 | Love-stricken | Leila | Ali Hatami | |
| 1997 | Leila | Leila | Dariush Mehrjui | |
| 1999 | Sheida | Sheida Fatemi | Kamal Tabrizi | |
| 2000 | The Mix | Ms. Salimi | Dariush Mehrjui | |
| 2001 | Water and Fire | Maryam | Fereydoun Jeyrani | |
| Sweet Jam | Jalal's Mother | Marzieh Boroomand | ||
| 2002 | The Deserted Station | Mahtab | Alireza Raeesian | |
| Low Heights | Narges | Ebrahim Hatamikia | ||
| 2005 | Season Salad | Leila | Fereydoun Jeyrani | |
| Portrait of a Lady Far Away | The Young Lady | Ali Mosaffa | ||
| Poet of the Wastes | The Young Lady | Mohammad Ahmadi | ||
| The Command | Foroozandeh | Masoud Kimiai | ||
| 2007 | Every Night, Loneliness | Atiyeh | Rasoul Sadrameli | |
| 2008 | Shirin | Woman In Audience | Abbas Kiarostami | |
| 2009 | Penniless | Shokouh | Hamid Nematollah | |
| 2010 | Forty Years Old | Negar | Alireza Raeesian | |
| A Walk in the Fog | Roya | Bahram Tavakkoli | ||
| There Are Things You Don't Know | Doctor | Fardin Sahebzamani | ||
| 2011 | Felicity Land | Yasi | Maziar Miri | |
| A Separation | Simin | Asghar Farhadi | ||
| Beloved Sky | The Lady | Dariush Mehrjui | ||
| 2012 | The Last Step | Leyli | Ali Mosaffa | |
| The Orange Suit | Nahal Nahavandi | Dariush Mehrjui | ||
| Meeting Leila | Leila | Adel Yaraghi | ||
| 2013 | The Sealed Secret | Saba | Hadi Moghaddamdoost | |
| 2014 | What's the Time in Your World? | Goli Ebtehaj | Safi Yazdanian | |
| 2015 | Time to Love | Bita Tamadon | Alireza Raeesian | |
| 2016 | I | Azar Mirzaei | Soheil Beiraghi | |
| 2017 | Subdued | Mina | Hamid Nematollah | |
| 2018 | Pig | Shiva Mohajer | Mani Haghighi | |
| Bomb: A Love Story | Mitra | Peyman Moaadi | ||
| Tale of the Sea | Parvaneh | Bahman Farmanara | ||
| 2019 | A Man Without a Shadow | Saye Tamadon | Alireza Raeesian | |
| We Are All Together | Mrs. Mozhdehi | Kamal Tabrizi | ||
| 2022 | Imagine | Ali Behrad | ||
| 2024 | The Old Bachelor | Oktay Baraheni | ||
| TBA | The Killer and the Savage | Ziba | Hamid Nematollah | Post-production |
| TBA | A Time in Eternity | Mehdi Norowzian | Post-production | |
| TBA | The Way of the Wind | Mary Magdalene | Terrence Malick |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Blue Whale | Anahita Kashef | Fereydoun Jeyrani | Filimo |
| 2022–2024 | Women's Secret Network | Delbar | Afshin Hashemi | Namava |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Hezar Dastan | Young Amine-aghdas | Ali Hatami | TV series | IRIB TV1 |
| Mr. Hekayati | Iraj Tahmasb | IRIB TV1 | |||
| 1984 | Guys Wake Up, Guys Be Alert | Marzieh Boroumand | |||
| 2000 | The English Briefcase | Mastaneh Pirayesh | Ziaeddin Dorri | IRIB TV1 | |
| 2007 | Paridokht | Paridokht | Saman Moghaddam | IRIB TV2 |
References
- ^ Terri Ginsberg; Chris Lippard (11 March 2010). Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 175–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7364-3.
- ^ "اعطای نشان هنر و ادب فرانسه به لیلا حاتمی" (in Persian). BBC News. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ Tom Vick (2007). Asian cinema: a field guide. Collins.
- ^ 15th Fajr Film Festival Awards Archived 29 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Fajr International Film Festival, Retrieved 25 June 2006.
- ^ Awards 2002 Archived 14 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine. World Film Festival, Retrieved 25 June 2006.
- ^ "Iran's Leila Hatami among Best Actresses of 21st Century". IFPNews. 24 September 2017.
- ^ (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Gold and Silver Bears for Iranian film as Berlinale closes | Culture| Arts, music and lifestyle reporting from Germany | DW | 20 February 2011". DW.COM. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ "Iran's Leila Hatami among Best Actresses of 21st Century". IFP News. 24 September 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ "The Jury of the 67th Festival de Cannes". Cannes. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ a b Cannes 2014: Iran Criticises Leila Hatami for Kissing Film Festival President. Ibtimes.co.uk (19 May 2014). Retrieved on 16 October 2015.
- ^ "Iranian actress Leila Hatami apologises for kissing Cannes president on the cheek". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
- ^ "Leila Hatami: Student group calls for Iranian actress to be flogged following Cannes Film Festival kiss". Independent. 24 May 2013.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leila Hatami.
- Leila Hatami at IMDb
- Interview with Leila Hatami, Leila Hatami answers your questions, BBC Persian, 31 January 2006: Text, Voice.
- Script of Shāer-e Zobāle-hā (شاعر زباله ها), by Mohsen Makhmalbaf: [1]. (in Persian)
- An unofficial fan site: Leila-Hatami.com (in Persian)
Authority control databases  | |
|---|---|
| International |
|
| National |
|
| Other |
|
