“In Iran, I hope that the arts and artists will experience a new era”

Iranian actress and star Niki Karimi, born in 1971, lives in Tehran and was Abbas Kiarostami’s assistant for a long time (1940-2016), before moving behind the camera. After first short films – To Have or to Not Have (2001), on infertility and couples who cannot have children – she directed her first feature films, which were hailed by critics: A night (2006) was selected at Cannes (Un certain regard) and, more recently, Until Tomorrow was unveiled at the Berlinale in 2022 (Panorama section).

Niki Karimi also studied design at Santa Monica College (California), in the United States, in the early 1990s, before returning to Iran. As a translator, she has translated into Persian all of Hanif Kureishi’s books, Buddhist poems, as well as an autobiography by Marlon Brando (The songs my mother taught me, Belfond, 1996, co-written with Robert Lindsey). Passing through Berlin, during the 73e edition of the festival, which lasts until February 26, the director came to award prizes to young talents and was invited to program a film as part of the 2023 retrospective on coming of age movies, training novels. Without hesitation, she chose Where is my friend’s house ? (1987), by Kiarostami.

The protest movement, born in September 2022, the day after the death of Mahsa Amini, the young woman arrested for a badly worn headscarf, certainly arouses hope, but generates increasingly strong repression in Iran. What is your view of the situation today?

From the beginning of this movement, I was in Tehran and I was very touched by what was happening. Why couldn’t young people express themselves on their future, on what they want? I also saw the hope in their eyes.

Thousands of people were arrested, people were sentenced to death. Do you have relatives who have been arrested, imprisoned?

Yes, there are so many actors and actresses, directors and artists who have mobilized: they want to be their own voice, to be able to express themselves as they see fit.

What does the release of filmmaker Jafar Panahi, on February 3, the day after the announcement of his hunger strike, after two hundred days in prison, represent for you?

Jafar Panahi is a filmmaker, he must be able to practice the job he loves. In his films, Panahi talks about the values ​​he believes in: he’s a friend, I worked with him and he collaborated on my film, A night. But I’m no political expert. To express myself, I use the language of cinema, and this must not be affected by politics. That’s what I love about Kiarostami’s work, with his always simple, poetic devices.

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