Zar Amir’s life is dizzying. Born forty-three years ago in Tehran, she became a renowned actress there, both in cinema and on television, where she played one of the main roles in the ultra-popular series Nargess. In 2006, a “sex tape” showing her with her partner abruptly ended her Iranian career. Two years later, on the morning of her trial, she fled to Dubai, before quickly returning to France. Between two small jobs, she courageously resumed a career with Iranian directors from the European diaspora.
Read the cross-portrait (in 2022): Article reserved for our subscribers Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidoosti and Zar Amir Ebrahimi, three Iranian women on the red carpet at Cannes
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A tenacity that led her to obtain, in 2022, the Best Actress Award at Cannes for The Nights of Mashhadby Iranian-born Danish director Ali Abbasi. The same year, following the death of student Mahsa Amini, after her arrest for “wearing inappropriate clothing”she publicly takes up the cause of the Iranian youth uprising. And here she is again in the spotlight, directing with the Israeli Guy Nattiv the film Tatamiin which she plays Maryam, the coach of an Iranian judoka who is ordered to resign rather than meet an Israeli counterpart.
Under what circumstances did you meet your co-director, Guy Nattiv?
It all started with a casting request. It was before my Best Actress Award at Cannes. I sent a video. Then we met later with Guy Nattiv in Los Angeles, where I was accompanying The Nights of Mashhad. In the meantime, I had read the script, and I had some comments to make about my character who, in my opinion, lacked depth on a socio-political level. Guy being an open-minded guy, we reworked him with his co-writer, Elham Erfani. Then, as I had done the casting of the Mashhad NightsGuy asked me to do the same on his film. I got so involved in this project that Guy, who didn’t feel completely legitimate on the subject, ended up asking me to co-direct with him.
Read the review: Article reserved for our subscribers In the film “Tatami”, an Iranian-Israeli sports face-off is prevented
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This Israeli-Iranian partnership is unprecedented in the history of cinema. Given the situation in the Middle East and the deterioration of relations between your two countries, were you not afraid that it would put you in danger?
Of course. The Iranian digital army has already targeted us. I myself took the time to think before accepting. I wondered about Guy’s intentions. About the political significance of the film. About the people who could potentially be put in danger. And then I realized that these scruples were exactly the same as those of the character I play, who let his conduct be dictated to and who regrets it, and I accepted Guy’s proposal. Our film obviously fights against all extremism, whether that of Iran or today of Israel. In any case, Zionism, or any link with Israel, in Iran, is an accusation that essentially serves to justify repression and to find a motive to convince of the guilt of the victims of the regime, who obviously have nothing to do with it. So I did it and like that, it’s done! I did everything that shouldn’t have been done.
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