Tatami
Take a look in advance
Iran's Leila is the top athlete on the Iranian national judo team and thus the pride of her country. She performs, expectedly, very well at the world judo championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. However, when it appears that if she wins her next fight, she will then have to compete against the Israeli Shani, she is instructed from on high to lose her match and drop out of the tournament.
Leila is not allowed to judo against an Israeli. A possible loss against archenemy Israel would be a national disgrace. If Leila refuses, and will fight on for the gold, it will mean not only that she cannot return to Iran, but also that the lives of her family and relatives will be at stake.
Tatami, called...
Iran's Leila is the top athlete on the Iranian national judo team and thus the pride of her country. She performs, expectedly, very well at the world judo championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. However, when it appears that if she wins her next fight, she will then have to compete against the Israeli Shani, she is instructed from on high to lose her match and drop out of the tournament.
Leila is not allowed to judo against an Israeli. A possible loss against archenemy Israel would be a national disgrace. If Leila refuses, and will fight on for the gold, it will mean not only that she cannot return to Iran, but also that the lives of her family and relatives will be at stake.
Tatami, named for the judo mat on which the fights take place, shows that judo as a sport is at least as cinematic as boxing. The cinematography captures every moment minutely, and the stark black-and-white fills each fight with beautiful images. The real tension, however, is in the corridors surrounding that arena. Leila is besieged from all sides. By her trainer Maryam, who experienced similar situations a generation earlier as a top judoka and now must once again choose sides. By Western officials, who say they want to help, but are not necessarily waiting for an international riot. And especially by the bearded "diplomats" who could be waiting for Leila and Maryam in any corner of the building again.
Remarkably, with Tatami, Iranian director and actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Israeli director Guy Nattiv have co-directed a film about the tensions between their two countries. This is the first time since the rise of the Islamic regime in Iran that an Iranian and Israeli director have made a feature film together.