Leila Hatami (born 1 October 1972) is an Iranian actress. She has received various accolades, including a Best Actress Award from the Karlovy Vary Film Festival and tow Crystal Simorgh from the Fajr Film Festival. She rose to international fame for her role as Simin in Asghar Farhadi's Academy Award-winning film A Separation (2011), for which she received the Silver Bear for Best Actress. The Government of France has awarded her the Legion of Honour in 2012. Hatami is the daughter of filmmaker Ali Hatami and she began her career with acting in the films of her father. She made her film debut portraying Kamal-ol-molk in the drama Kamalolmolk (1984) and received critical acclaim for playing a sterile young woman in the drama Leila (1997). She received her first Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress from the 27th Fajr Film Festival for playing a housewife in Penniless (2009) and received her first international award from the 26th Montreal World Film Festival for her performance in The Deserted Station (2002).

Early life

Leila Hatami was born on 1 October 1972, in Tehran, Iran, to influential Iranian director Ali Hatami and actress Zari Khoshkam. After finishing high school, she moved to Lausanne, Switzerland and started her studies in Mechanical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). After two years she changed her major to French literature. After completing her studies, she returned to live in Iran.

Career

Hatami played several small roles in her father's productions throughout her youth, including in the Hezar Dastan television series and the Kamalolmolk movie. Her first leading film appearance was the title role in the 1997 film Leila, directed by Dariush Mehrjui. She received the Diploma of Honor for Best Actress from the 15th Fajr Film Festival. Following this, she continued to act regularly in Iranian cinema. She has starred in dozens of films, and has often garnered critical acclaim and accolades. For her performance in The Deserted Station (2002), she was nominated for the Fajr Film Festival Award for Best Actress and she won the Best Actress Award at the 26th Montreal World Film Festival. She has appeared in her husband's films as a director, Portrait of a Lady Far Away (2005) and The Last Step (2012). She also designed the sets and the costumes of The Last Step and, in addition to receiving the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance, she received a nomination for the Crystal Simorgh Fajr Film Festival Award for Best Production Design and Costume Design for her work on the film. In 2012, she received international attention for her role in the critical acclaimed Asghar Farhadi film, A Separation, which won dozens of accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Her performance earned critical acclaim and various awards, including the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival. IndieWire praised her portrayal as one of the best female performances of the 21st century.

Judging in film festivals

In April 2014, she was announced as a member of the main competition jury at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Whilst there, she greeted Cannes President Gilles Jacob with a kiss on the cheek, which is a form of greeting in France. Iran's Deputy Culture Minister Hossein Noushabadi offered criticism of her for this: "'I hope that those who attend international arenas as Iranian women would be careful about the chastity and dignity of Iranians so that the image of the Iranian woman is not tainted before the world,' he said. 'If they respect Islamic norms and the national culture and beliefs of Iran, it would be a desirable thing for Iranian celebrities to go abroad, but if their presence lacks regard for social values and ethical criteria, the Iranian nation is not going to accept it.'" In May 2014, after receiving significant backlash for the kiss in Iran—including calls for her to be flogged—Hatami later apologized for her actions in a letter. In addition to Cannes Festival, she has been selected as a member of the jury in many other festivals, including the 79th Venice Film Festival and 41st Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Full list:

Membership in the Academy

In June 2017, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscar) announced that it invited Leila Hatami to become a member of this academy.

Personal life

She married her co-star in Leila (Ali Mosaffa) in 1998. They have two children: a son named Mani (born February 2007) and a daughter named Asal (born October 2008). Beside her native Persian language she is fluent in French, English, and German.

Filmography

Film

Web

Television

Awards and nominations

International Film Festivals

Fajr Film Festival

Hafez Awards

Iran Cinema Celebration

Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association