Zar Amir’s life is a whirlwind. Born forty-three years ago in Tehran, she became a renowned actress there, both in film and on television, where she played one of the main roles in the popular series. NargesIn 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 bravely resumed a career with Iranian directors from the European diaspora.
A stubbornness 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, after the death of student Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for “wear inappropriate clothing”publicly defends the cause of the Iranian youth uprising. And here he is again at the forefront, directing alongside Israeli Guy Nattiv the film tatamiin which she plays Maryam, the coach of an Iranian judoka who is ordered to resign rather than meet with 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 Cannes Acting Award. I sent a video. Then we met Guy Nattiv later in Los Angeles, where I accompanied him. The nights of Mashhad. Meanwhile, I had read the script and had comments to make about my character that I felt lacked depth on a socio-political level. Since Guy is an outspoken guy, we reworked it with his co-writer, Elham Erfani. Then, since I had already cast him, Mashhad NightsGuy asked me to do the same thing on his film. I got so involved in this project that Guy, who didn’t feel entirely legitimate in the subject, ended up asking me to co-direct with him.
This Israeli-Iranian partnership is unprecedented in the history of cinema. Did you not fear that, given the situation in the Middle East and the deterioration of relations between your two countries, this would put you in danger?
Of course. The Iranian digital army has already attacked us. I myself took the time to think about it before accepting. I wondered about Guy’s intentions. About the political meaning of the film. About people who could possibly be in danger. And then I realized that those scruples were exactly the same as those of the character I play, who lets his behavior be dictated to him and who repents, and I accepted Guy’s proposal. Our film obviously fights against all extremism, whether it is that of Iran or of today’s 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 reason to convince the victims of the regime, who evidently have nothing to do with it, of the guilt. So I did it and just like that, voila! I did everything I shouldn’t have done.
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