Israeli, Iranian Directors Talk About Making Historic, ‘Risky’ Movie About Female Iranian Judoka

Shiryn Ghermezian

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A scene from “Tatami.” Photo: Venice Film Festival.

A movie premiering at the Venice Film Festival that is the first feature co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian filmmaker is a timely story that needs to be told despite tensions between the two Middle Eastern countries, according to the project’s directors Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir Ebrahimi.

“It took us five minutes to become best friends and family,” Nattiv told The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview about his relationship with Ebrahimi. “We eat the same hummus, the same pita, the same falafel. We listen to the same music. We love the same cinema. You meet the so-called enemy outside of Israel and it’s like, ‘Hey, I’ve missed you in my life’ … We were really on the same page about creative stuff.”

Tatami is about a female Iranian judoka named Leila — played by American Iranian- Chilean actress Arienne Mandi from The L Word — who is competing for gold at the Judo World Championships, but is ordered by the Islamic Republic to fake an injury and lose or be labeled a traitor by her home country. Leila must decide if she will listen to Iranian authorities or continue competing for the gold medal. Ebrahimi — a Cannes Film Festival best actress winner for Holy Spider — plays Leila’s coach, Maryam, who tries to convince her to comply with the Iranian regime and leave the competition. Tatami a type of mat used during judo bouts.

Nattiv, who recently directed Golda, also co-wrote the script of Tatami with Paris-based Iranian actress and screenwriter Elham Erfani and the film is produced by Israel’s Keshet Studios. Ebrahimi further serves as the film’s casting director. Iran and Israel have no diplomatic relations and Iran does not recognize the Jewish state. The Islamic Republic also has a long-standing policy of not allowing its athletes to compete against opponents from Israel.

Ebrahimi and Nattiv told The Hollywood Reporter the film’s storyline taps into the real-life struggles women currently face in Iran amid freedom protests about the mandatory hijab enforcement and following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was killed last year after allegedly being beaten by Iranian police when she was arrested for not wearing a hijab.

“We just felt this sudden urgency of telling the story,” Ebrahimi explained, saying that all the Iranians on the film’s set got emotional when they filmed a scene where Leila removes her hijab. “I think we all somehow felt like we were in this revolutionary time while making this movie,” she added. The director and actress fled to Paris in 2008 and became a French citizen in 2017 after facing her own difficulties with Iranian authorities.

She said when Nattiv reached out to her about making the film, it was a “beautiful offer.”

“I took a bit of time, because it’s a very risky project for me, even as an exiled artist,” she said to The Hollywood Reporter. “But at some point I just thought, ‘There is no reason to even think about it — I have to collaborate with him on this movie.’ ” She noted that the initial hesitation and fear she had of the Iranian regime, even while living in Paris, for joining the project is one of the big underlining messages in Tatami. “This was exactly the story [Nattiv] wanted to tell,” she said.

“And that’s how this first ever Israeli-Iranian collaboration was born, by just wanting to make something authentic, and give a voice to these female warriors,” added Nattiv.

Ebrahimi and Nattiv also talked about the “emotional” experience for both of them when Ebrahimi traveled to Israel, for the first time ever, to edit Tatami. Ebrahimi said she “felt at home” in Israel.

Nattiv said in a previously released statement that Tatami is “a creative statement to the world as thousands of innocent Iranian people are paying with their lives for freedom.” He told The Hollywood Reporter it also pays tribute to the anti-government protests taking place in Israel regarding a judicial overhaul sought by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Israeli democracy is in great danger, and I see correlation between Iran and Israel,” he said. “I don’t recognize my country anymore.”

Tatami will make its world premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti competition on Sept. 2, on almost the one year anniversary of when Amini was killed. The film’s cast includes Ebrahimi’s Holy Spider co-stars Mehdi Bajestani and Sina Parvaneh alongside Jaime Ray Newman, Nadine Marshall, Lir Katz and Ash Goldeh.

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