2019, Tokyo Judo World Championship. Athlete Saeid Mollai is forced by the Iranian authorities to intentionally lose the semi-finals. Their aim is to preclude him from getting to eventually compete against Israel, a state that the Iranian regime doesn’t officially recognize. After the competition, Mollai flees to Europe to avoid repression in Iran. There he obtains asylum and becomes a member of the International Judo Federation (IJF) refugee team, while Iran is indefinitely banned from taking part in the league. Replace Saeid Mollai with Leila Hosseini (Arienne Mandi) and you get the thriller Tatami. A historical movie not only because based on a true story, but also because it is the first time in the history of cinema that an Iranian and an Israeli director worked together. For French-Iranian actress and director Zar Amir Ebrahimi, winner of best performer at Cannes in 2021 for Holy Spider, and for director Guy Nattiv, Academy Award winner for the short drama Skin, the production of this movie became much more than just work: the beginning of an unexpected friendship.
An aerial view of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, with its rationalist Soviet building, accompanies the spectator into the buzzing crowded stadium. There Leila, together with her team, is warming up under the guidance of the trainer Maryam Ghanbari (Zar Amir Ebrahimi). Leila Hosseini is a young woman representing Iran, an athlete determined to win the gold medal at the Judo World Championship. Nothing can distract her from her final goal, not even a few kilos she has gained, which risks pushing her into the higher weight category. Leila listens to loud rap music through her headphones while jumping, running, and cycling. The world outside seems far away until she accidentally runs into her Israel opponent Shani Lavi (Lir Katz). They friendly greet each other and exchange a few words. But something is wrong, it’s obvious. Hard to say what, but immediately the tension starts building up. From that moment on, the spectator has no other choice than to keep the breath, until the very last second of the movie. The tournament starts and one after the other Leila beats her opponents. She wins all the matches with great ease. In between, Leila talks on the phone to her husband and child. Back in Iran, together with some friends, they are watching her on television. Leila is unstoppable. Everyone agrees, both the chroniclers, as well as Maryam and Leila herself: she will win a medal. Then a phone call and the ultimatum: Leila must pretend to get injured and step down from the tatami. At first, Maryam tries to ignore the request, then she explicitly refuses, she argues and fights for her athlete’s right to a fair competition. But this is not a request, but rather an order. The consequences for not obeying will be merciless, the agent argues on one of the last phone calls that convince Maryam to turn her back to Leila.
Shot in black and white, rich in close-ups and fast camera movements following the judo moves, the pace of the movie is steady. Tatami is a relentless report where reality and fiction are so tightly intertwined to make you lose track. Two almost foreign worlds develop in parallel: one on stage and one behind the scenes. What happens on the tatami, during the actual matches, is completely different from what happens in the changing rooms or in the corridors. The allusion to the double reality dominating people’s lives in Iran is obvious and scary. The spectator feels Leila’s and Maryam’s tension of being constantly controlled and threatened, as well as the exhaustion of having to pretend with the outside world and not being able to trust anyone. The scene where Leila can hardly breathe is so absorbing that it is physically disturbing to watch. This way, the public can only start imagining what Iranian citizens must face every day. Tatami shows better than a documentary what it means to live under a repressive regime. The reality Iranian people must face can hardly be bitten by imagination. What happens to Leila, is not an exception. Her story is not only Mollai’s story. But it’s also director’s Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who herself had to flee Iran years ago because of the regime’s persecution. And it’s also Mahsa Amini’s story, the twenty-two-year-old student who was killed by the morality guards for allegedly not wearing properly the hijab in September 2022. Since then, under the slogan Woman, Life, Freedom, the most widespread protest movement in the recent history of Iran has been advocating for the respect of human rights. Only in February this year, the production of Tatami was officially disclosed, after being kept secret for security reasons. On that occasion, both director Ebrahimi and Nattiv underlined the urgency to work on this project in relation to the politics of their countries of origin. When it comes to authoritarianism and human rights abuse, both Iran and Israel are on the front.
Tatami, widely acclaimed by the public and critics, premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival in the section Orizzonti, won the Brian Award because it is a “film that highlights and enhances the values of rationality, respect for human rights, democracy, pluralism, promotion of individuality, freedom of conscience, expression, and research, the principle of equal opportunities in public institutions for all citizens, without the frequent distinctions based on sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious or philosophical stands”. No better words could be found to describe Tatami, a hymn to freedom showing the struggle of the Iranian people against the oppressive regime.
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