The new film ‘Tatami’ reveals an Iranian judoka’s fight beyond the mat

What happens when the pressure to compete is not just about winning, but about survival?

In the new political thriller Tatami, that question plays out through the story of Leila Hosseini, an Iranian judoka competing at the World Judo Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. When she’s scheduled to face an Israeli opponent, Iranian government agents order her to fake an injury and withdraw. They threaten to harm her family if she refuses, and her own safety appears at risk.

Inspired by the real experiences of Iranian athletes who were forced to abandon their dreams and sometimes leave their homes and loved ones, Tatami explores their impossible choice: acquiesce to the regime and forfeit the match or compete despite the risks.

The feature film is a victory in its own right, the first of its kind to be co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian — Oscar winner Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir, who won the 2022 best actress award at Cannes for her role in the film Holy Spider.

“Because I’m not Iranian, I wanted to open myself to Iranian talent and then I saw [Iranian-born Danish director Ali Abbasi’s] Holy Spider and my jaw dropped when I saw Zar’s performance,” said Nattiv.

In addition to co-directing the film, Amir also plays the role of Maryam Ghanbari, Leila’s coach since childhood. Iranian officials pressure the coach to force her protégée to fake an injury and withdraw from the competition.

Amir and Arienne Mandi, who plays Leila in the film, trained with real judokas as they prepared for roles inspired by stories like that of Saeid Mollaei, who was ordered by Iranian authorities to lose intentionally at the 2019 world championships in Tokyo to avoid going up against the Israeli judoka Sagi Muki.

When Nattiv first approached her, Amir wasn’t sure at first that she was ready to take part in the project.

“I was a bit afraid, but then at some point I just realized that I’m doing as Maryam does in the movie. I’m hesitating,” she said, “So I’m happy that we did it and that it was such a smooth and lovely collaboration.”

The film was largely shot in secret due to security concerns for this rare Iranian-Israeli partnership. “We had to call this project a different name, we spoke only English, we were in different hotels and it was a closed set. So we just wanted to make sure that we are not a target,” Nattiv explained.

Besides Iran and Israel perceiving each other as existential threats, Nattiv sees a more subtle reason for Iran trying so desperately to stop Leila from potentially competing against an Israeli athlete.

Judo “is a sport where you have to honor your opponent because you have to bow. There’s a [lot of] respect. And the Islamic regime does not want the Iranian judoka to lose to an Israeli because you have to honor her or him by bowing, and they see that as an insult in a way,” Nattiv said.

For Amir, it’s about Tehran’s political agenda. “We need this imaginary enemy. This is the way totalitarian regimes survive, especially in the Middle East, but it’s so absurd. So more and more people don’t obey,” she said.

Amir’s work is shaped by her personal history. She fled Iran in 2008 and later received threats after her win at Cannes.

“When I do a movie like Holy Spider or Tatami, it’s not just only making a movie for me. It’s so important how we do this movie, how we bring these kinds of stories to cinema,” Amir said, “I don’t mind anymore if I get threats. I think since I show it that I don’t have any fear, I really get less and less threats.”

Tatami arrives at a fraught juncture for Israel and Iran, whose long-simmering conflict exploded into an all-out war this month, making the film especially prescient.

“Collaboration between so-called enemies will heal more. So from my point of view, I just feel that art heals. This is our weapon. Make art, not war,” said Nattiv. “We made a film about Iran, but I also feel that in a way, Israel has become totalitarian.”

Amir said their work together was “a window to a new culture,” one not far from her own.

“It’s just like we are sisters and brothers. We like the same music. We like the same food,” she said. “There is no other way. We have to shake our hands and try to love each other, to understand each other.”

The broadcast version of this story was produced by Olivia Hampton, who edited the digital version.