Tatami

An Iranian female judoka and her coach – determined to win Iran's first gold medal – are faced with an ultimatum from the Iranian regime, demanding that they withdraw from the World Judo Championships.

Leila and her coach, Maryam, travel to Tbilisi, Georgia, to participate in the world championships. The reigning champion comes from Israel, and if Leila were to lose against her, the Iranian regime would see this as a potentially humiliating defeat, which they cannot accept.

Leila ignores the pressure from her homeland, making the situation increasingly tense and affecting her family in Iran. The film is directed by Iranian Zar Amir Ebrahimi, known from her role in Holy Spider, and Israeli Guy Nattiv. It is both a politically charged thriller and an exciting sports film.

Director

Zar Amir Ebrahimi (b. 1981) is an Iranian-French actress, producer, and director. She broke through internationally with Holy Spider in 2022, for which she won the award for best actress at Cannes. Ebrahimi also played the lead in Shayda, which was screened at the Films from the South festival in 2023. Tatami is her directorial debut, and is co-directed by Guy Nattiv (b. 1973), an Israeli filmmaker known for Golda (2023).

This film is part of