Iranian-French actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi on her films that take aim at Iran’s regime, and advocating for women’s rights
- Cannes 2022 best actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi says she and other exiled Iranians are telling the truth about Iran’s regime: ‘We have become a nightmare for them’
- She was recently at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, which showed Shayda, in which she stars, and Tatami, which she co-directed and acted in
The life of Iranian-French actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi has all the elements of a compelling biopic.
For years she was a famous face in Iran thanks to her starring role in the hit TV series Nargess. That all came crashing down when an intimate video of her and her then boyfriend was leaked.
A smear campaign followed. Sex outside marriage is illegal in Iran and in 2008, on the day she was due in court – where she faced up to 10 years in prison and 100 lashings – she fled Iran for France.
“If I return to Iran then I would be arrested at the airport,” says Ebrahimi during an interview in Hong Kong at the Mira Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Ebrahimi was in Hong Kong this month as part of the 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), which included a screening of Shayda, for which Ebrahimi plays the titular role.
