“If I return to Iran, I might be arrested on the airport,” Ebrahimi stated throughout an interview on the Mira Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi performs the lead position in Sheida (2023).
Ebrahimi visited Hong Kong this month as a part of the forty eighth Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), which additionally screened “Sheyda,” by which Ebrahimi stars.
Shayda is the story of an Iranian girl residing in Australia who flees her controlling husband and takes refuge along with her daughter in a ladies’s shelter.
No Bears: Venice jury prize winner, director was in jail on the time
The movie is the debut characteristic of Iranian-Australian director Noura Niasari, and the story is predicated on the experiences of Niasari’s mom.
The competition additionally screened Tatami, the story of a younger Iranian judo star caught up in a world political incident. Ebrahimi co-directed and starred within the movie with Israeli Guy Natif.
Both movies observe within the footsteps of the extraordinary crime thriller The Holy Spider, for which Ebrahimi received Best Actress on the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
The movie, directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, stars Ebrahimi as a journalist who goes undercover as a prostitute to research a serial killer. The story is predicated on the true story of the murders of 16 feminine intercourse employees in Iran’s holy metropolis of Mashhad between 2000 and 2001.
Winning this position was a coincidence. Ebrahimi was initially the casting director for the movie, however she was not concerned till the lead actor withdrew from the position as a result of considerations that performing with out a hijab (scarf) would get her into bother with Iran’s “morality” police. He was the casting director for the film.
Ebrahimi stated these concerned in “The Holy Spider,” which was filmed in Jordan, paid an enormous value.
“They cannot work in Iran anymore. They took an enormous danger, and I feel they’re proud.”
Ebrahimi in a nonetheless from Holy Spider (2022).
Ebrahimi based the manufacturing firm Alembic Productions in 2022 and her profession is clearly on the up and up.
“For a few years I did not seem in entrance of the digital camera as a result of I did not know anybody in France and I wanted time to study the language, adapt to the brand new tradition, new nation… all the pieces.” she says.
What her movies have in frequent is what occurs to those that disobey Iran’s strict legal guidelines. Support for Iranian ladies’s rights can also be deeply rooted.
They don’t need us to inform the reality or present actuality…We have grow to be a nightmare for them Zahra Amir Ebrahimi on the Iranian regime
This is why cinema is such an vital platform, says Ebrahimi. Films present a window into completely different cultures and permit folks to inform vital tales.
“It’s nice that individuals can relate to those tales.”
Ebrahimi in a nonetheless from Tatami, which she additionally co-directed.
While in France, Ebrahimi interacted with different Iranian exiles, who she says are additionally bravely telling the reality in regards to the Iranian regime.
“We’re all doing political issues and telling tales that we do not need the entire world to listen to. They don’t need us to inform the reality or present us the truth.” she says.
“At some level, we could not overlook your voice, and we turned big – and we turned their nightmare.”