Face to Face with Zar Amir at the 2024
Hong Kong International Film Festival :)
Tatami (Georgia-U.S.A., 2023)
- Guy Nattiv (who co-scripted with Elham Erfani) and Zar Amir, co-directors
- Starring: Arienne Mandi, Zar Amir, Jaime Ray Newman, Nadine Marshall
- Part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival's Cinephile Paradise program
As I write this, the Georgian capital of Tblisi is in the news as it is rocked by mass protests by the country's citizenry against its government. In Tatami, however, it is a politically neutral space which is playing host to a World Judo Championships that Iranian judoka Leila Hosseini (played by Arienne Mandi) aspires to win, even if this means her going up and defeating a friend who also is a sporting rival in Israeli judoka Shani Lavi (essayed by Lir Katz).
As those familiar with Middle East politics will know though, Iranian hardliners would not countenance the idea of someone from their country appearing next to someone from Israel in public. So when a genuine possibility arises of Leila and Shani coming together in an upcoming round of the competition, pressure gets put on Leila from the Iranian regime to either pull out of the championship by faking an injury or deliberately losing to an opponent in an early round.
A true sportswoman (who cares far more about sport than politics, and for whom it's anathema to throw a match), Leila refuses to do so. In so doing, she directly defies her long time coach (and former judo champion), Maryam (portrayed by Zar Amir), as well as Iranian government officials who have commanded Maryam to get her charge to do what they want. And because the order to withdraw comes from the very top, this act of disobedience and defiance puts Leila and Maryam -- and perhaps even more so since they're in Iran: Leila's husband (played by Ash Goldeh), young son and parents, and Maryam's family -- in grave danger.
Based on and inspired by true occurences and events, Tatami is a nail-bitingly suspenseful drama with a a great story to tell. It also is a very watchable sports actioner with emotionally gripping judo scenes that must have demanded much physically from its actresses, and are excitingly lensed (in black andd white -- a decision Zar Amir explained as wanting to emphasize the black-and-white view of the world held by the Iranian regime, and black and white outfits of the competing judoka -- by Todd Martin) and dynamically edited (by Yuval Orr).
As improbable as it might sound, Tatami got this (re)viewer caring about whether Leila would win every single one of the judo bouts we see her compete in -- often utterly ferociously, like she was fighting for her very life on the tatami -- as well as whether she and her family, and also Maryam (who one can sees does care very much for Leila as an athlete as well as Leila as a person, and for Leila's and her own safety), will somehow be able to escape the wrath and/or grasps of the ayatollahs. It helps that Arienne Mandi put in such a winning performance; ditto Zee Avi, whose character was more difficult to champion and like while even more conflicted.
More than by the way, Zar Amir not only co-starred and -directed but also was in charge of Tatami's casting and is one of the film's co-producers. I think it also worth noting -- and I'm sure had some impact on the production -- that she knows what it's like to have incurred the anger of the Iranian authorities. More specifically, she was banned from appearing in films and TV for 10 years, and sentenced to to 99 lashes with a leather strap, by the Iranian court -- and only avoided these penalties by fleeing Iran. She has lived in France since 2008.
My rating for the film: 9.0
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