Leila Hatami

Leila Hatami (Persian: لیلا حاتمی; born 1 October 1972) is an Iranian actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of Iranian Cinema, she is considered one of the most prominent performers in the 21st century. She is recognized for her realistic acting in drama films and she rose to international fame for her role as Simin in Academy Award-winning film A Separation (2011), for which she received the Silver Bear for Best Actress.

Leila Hatami
لیلا حاتمی
Hatami at the 2019 Fajr Film Festival
Born	(1972-10-01) 1 October 1972 (age 52) Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Alma mater	École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–present
Spouse	Ali Mosaffa ​ (m. 1998)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Ali Hatami Zari Khoshkam
Relatives	Amir Banoo Karimi (mother-in-law)

Hatami made her film debut in the drama Kamalolmolk (1984) portraying Kamal-ol-molk. She played her first lead role in the drama Leila (1997) as a barren woman, for which she won the Diploma of Honor at the Fajr Film Festival and gained public attention. Her portrayal of a naive woman in Penniless (2009) earned her the Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress at the Fajr Film Festival, and she later won the award again for her portrayal of a disordered woman in Subdued (2017). She has also been nominated for the Crystal Simorgh for her roles in Sheida (1999), The Deserted Station (2002), Season Salad (2005), Forty Years Old (2010), A Separation (2011), The Orange Suit (2012) and Time to Love (2015).

Hatami won the Montreal World Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Deserted Station (2002). She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival for her performance in the drama A Separation (2011). In 2017, IndieWire praised her performance in the film as one of the best performances of the 21st century and considered Hatami deserved one Oscar Award for her performance in it.^[1] She received the Crystal Globe for Best Actress at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for her performance in The Last Step (2012). In 2012, she was appointed Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.^[2] She has been included in the list of the most beautiful women in the Middle East by the website Wonderslist.^[3]

Early life

Hatami as a child with her parents Ali Hatami and Zari Khoshkam

Leila Hatami was born on 1 October 1972, in Tehran, Iran, to influential Iranian director Ali Hatami and actress Zari Khoshkam. Leila first appeared in a film when she was 10, times of the 19th century Iranian painter Kamal-ol-Molk. In it, she played the painter as a young boy. Then eight years later in 1992, she appeared in another one of her father’s films called Love-stricken where she played a blind princess. However she did not originally intend to pursue acting. At high school, she studied mathematical physics.^[4] 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.^[5] She completed her study of French before moving back to Iran. Then her father became ill and she went back to Iran. He died in 1996. That same year, she played her first adult role in drama Leila which was directed by prominent film director Dariush Mehrjui. Her acting received praise both inside and outside of Iran.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.

Hatami at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival

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.^[10] Her performance earned critical acclaim and various awards, including the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival.^[11] IndieWire praised her portrayal as one of the best female performances of the 21st century.^[12]

In June 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited Leila Hatami to become a member.^[13]

Judging at film festivals

Hatami (second from left) alongside her fellow jury members at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival

In April 2014, she was announced as a member of the main competition jury at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.^[14] Whilst there, she greeted Cannes President Gilles Jacob with a kiss on the cheek, which is a form of greeting in France.^[15] 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."^[15]

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.^[16][17]

Full list

• 2001 - Dubai Short Film Festival
• 2006 - 41st Karlovy Vary Film Festival – Main competition
• 2011 - Marrakech Film Festival
• 2011 - Deauville Film Festival
• 2012 - Rome Film Festival
• 2012 - Kastendorf Film Festival (Jury President)
• 2013 - Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
• 2014 - 67th Cannes Film Festival – Main competition
• 2022 - Vesoul Film Festival of Asian Cinema (Jury President)
• 2022 - 79th Venice Film Festival – Main competition

Personal life

She married Ali Mosaffa, her co-star in Leila (1997) 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.^[18]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1984	Kamalolmolk	Young Kamal-ol-molk	Ali Hatami
1992	Love-stricken	Leila	Ali Hatami
1997	Leila	Leila	Dariush Mehrjui
1999	Sheida	Sheida Fatemi	Kamal Tabrizi
2000	The Mix	Ms. Salimi	Dariush Mehrjui	Cameo appearance
2001	Water and Fire	Maryam	Fereydoun Jeyrani
	Sweet Jam	Jalal's Mother	Marzieh Boroomand
2002	The Deserted Station	Mahtab	Alireza Raeesian
	Low Heights	Narges	Ebrahim Hatamikia
2005	Season Salad	Leila	Fereydoun Jeyrani
	Portrait of a Lady Far Away	The Young Lady	Ali Mosaffa
	Poet of the Wastes	The Young Lady	Mohammad Ahmadi
	The Command	Foroozandeh	Masoud Kimiai
2007	Every Night, Loneliness	Atiyeh	Rasoul Sadrameli
2008	Shirin	Woman in Audience	Abbas Kiarostami
2009	Penniless	Shokouh	Hamid Nematollah
2010	Forty Years Old	Negar	Alireza Raeesian
	A Walk in the Fog	Roya	Bahram Tavakkoli
	There Are Things You Don't Know	Doctor	Fardin Sahebzamani
2011	Felicity Land	Yasi	Maziar Miri
	A Separation	Simin	Asghar Farhadi
	Beloved Sky	The Lady	Dariush Mehrjui
2012	The Last Step	Leyli	Ali Mosaffa	Also costume designer
	The Orange Suit	Nahal Nahavandi	Dariush Mehrjui
	Meeting Leila	Leila	Adel Yaraghi
2013	The Sealed Secret	Saba	Hadi Moghaddamdoost
2014	What's the Time in Your World?	Goli Ebtehaj	Safi Yazdanian
2015	Time to Love	Bita Tamadon	Alireza Raeesian
2016	I	Azar Mirzaei	Soheil Beiraghi
2017	Subdued	Mina	Hamid Nematollah
2018	The Last Fiction	Shahrzad (Voice)	Ashkand Rahgozar	Animation
	Pig	Shiva Mohajer	Mani Haghighi
	Bomb: A Love Story	Mitra	Peyman Moaadi
	Tale of the Sea	Parvaneh	Bahman Farmanara
2019	A Man Without a Shadow	Saye Tamadon	Alireza Raeesian
	We Are All Together	Mrs. Mozhdehi	Kamal Tabrizi
2022	Imagine	Various	Ali Behrad	Hatami played 8 roles.
2024	The Old Bachelor	Rana	Oktay Baraheni
2025	The Killer and the Savage	Ziba	Hamid Nematollah
TBA	A Time in Eternity	Maryam	Mehdi Norowzian	Completed
TBA	The Way of the Wind	Mary Magdalene	Terrence Malick	Completed
TBA	The Rook		Hamid Nematollah	Post-production

Web

Year	Title	Role	Director	Platform	Notes
2019	Blue Whale	Anahita Kashef	Fereydoun Jeyrani	Filimo	Recurring role
2022–2024	Women's Secret Network	Delbar	Afshin Hashemi	Namava	Main role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Director	Network	Notes
1977	Divorce	Bahare	Massoud Asadollahi	NIRT	Episode: "Addicted"
1987	Hezar Dastan	Young Amine-aghdas	Ali Hatami	IRIB TV1	1 episode
	Mr. Hekayati		Iraj Tahmasb	IRIB TV1	Childern's TV show
1984	Guys Wake Up, Guys Be Alert	Herself	Marzieh Boroumand
2000	The English Briefcase	Mastaneh Pirayesh	Ziaeddin Dorri	IRIB TV1	Main role
2007	Paridokht	Paridokht	Saman Moghaddam	IRIB TV2	Main role

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations received by Leila Hatami

Organizations	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
Berlin International Film Festival	2011	Silver Bear for Best Actress	A Separation	Won	[19]
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival	2012	Best Actress	The Last Step	Won	[20]
Montreal World Film Festival	2002	Best Actress	The Deserted Station	Won	[21]
Palm Springs International Film Festival	2012	the FIPRESCI for Best Actress	A Separation	Won	[22][23]
Asian Film Awards	2012	Best Actress		Nominated	[24]
		Favorite Actress		Nominated
International Cinephile Society	2012	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[25]
Zimbabwe International Film Festival	2010	Best Actress	Every Night, Loneliness	Won	[26]
Fajr Film Festival	1997	Best Actress	Leila	Runner-up	[27]
	1999		Sheida	Nominated	[28]
	2002		The Deserted Station	Nominated	[29]
	2005		Season Salad	Nominated	[30]
	2009		Penniless	Won	[31]
	2010		Forty Years Old	Nominated	[32]
	2011		A Separation	Nominated	[33]
			There Are Things You Don't Know	Nominated	[34]
	2012		Orange Suit	Nominated	[35]
	2015		Time to Love	Nominated	[36]
	2017		Subdued	Won	[37]
Hafez Awards	1997	Best Actress– Motion Picture	Leila	Won	[38]
	1999		Sheida	Nominated	[39]
	2001		Water and Fire	Nominated	[40]
	2002		Low Heights	Nominated	[41]
	2006		The Command	Nominated	[42]
	2011		Penniless	Nominated	[43]
	2014		The Last Step	Nominated	[44]
	2016		Time to love	Nominated	[45]
	2017		I	Nominated	[46]
	2018		Subdued	Won	[47]
	2019		Bomb: A Love Story	Nominated	[48]
	2020	Best Actress – Television Series Drama	Blue Whale	Nominated	[49]
	2023	Best Actress– Motion Picture	Imagine	Nominated	[50]
	2024	Best Actress – Television Series Comedy	Women's Secret Network	Nominated	[51]
Iran Cinema Celebration	2001	Best Actress	Water and Fire	Won	[52]
	2002		Low Heights	Nominated	[53]
	2010		A Walk in the Fog	Nominated	[54]
	2012		The Last Step	Nominated	[55]
	2017		Subdued	Won	[56]
Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association	2001	Best Actress	Water and Fire	Won[a]	[57]
	2010		Penniless	Won	[58]
	2010		A Walk in the Fog	Nominated	[59]
	2012		The Last Step	Nominated	[60]
	2013		The Sealed Secret	Nominated	[61]
	2015		What's the Time in Your World?	Nominated	[62]
	2016		I	Won	[63]
	2017		Subdued	Won	[64]
	2018		Bomb: A Love Story	Nominated	[65]

Notes

1. Best Actress of the Year as chosen by Iranian film writers and critics