Niki Karimi ( fa, نیکی کریمی; born November 10, 1971) is an Iranian actress, director, screenwriter and producer. Regarded as "the most prominent figure among the young generations coming after the Iranian Revolution", she has received various accolades, including a

Crystal Simorgh The Crystal Simorgh ( fa, ‌سیمرغ بلورین) is an award given by Fajr International Film Festival, Iran's major annual film festival. It is awarded in several categories of ''International Competition'' as well as ''Iranian Cinema Comp ...

, three Hafez Awards, an Iran Cinema Celebration Award, and three Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Awards.

Early life

Niki Karimi was born in azerbaijani (turkish) family on November 10, 1971 in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. Her parents are both from Tafresh. She has been active in theater since elementary school, and has said that her early interest in film and literature inspired her to become an actress.

Career

In 1990, she was cast as a young bride in Behrooz Afkhami's hit film ''The Bride''. Karimi began her career in the late 1980s. She received critical acclaim for her performance in '' Sara'' (1992), for which she won the best actress award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Karimi has won many awards nationally and internationally for "Sara" such as San Sebastian film festival award for best actress. She has also recently been on the jury for more than 20 renowned film festivals, including Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all t ...

, the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

and

Thessaloniki International Film Festival The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), organized by the cultural institution of the same name under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, is held every November in Thessaloniki.TIFF features international competition secti ...

and

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

and also the 60th Cannes Film Festival. She was the assistant of Abbas Kiarostami from 1992 to 2007. Expanding on her career as an actor, she wrote and directed the documentary '' To Have or Not to Have'' (2001). In 2001, she won her first award as a director in Iran's Rain film festival for her work '' To Have or Not to Have'', which was produced by renowned

ian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. Nominated at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival started on 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on 21 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Belgian film '' L'Enfant'' by Dardenne brothers. ...

for her feature film directorial debut '' One Night'' (2005), she said that acting no longer satisfied her and she would like to direct more movies. In addition to the film, Karimi has also done some translating work. In 1999 she released her first translation work, Marlon Brando's biography '' Songs My Mother Taught Me,'' which she translated from English to Persian. She also translated two books by

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British literature, British writers ...

, a Pakistani-English writer. Her third film as director, ''Final whistle'' (2011), won three awards at the

Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (French: Festival international des cinémas d'Asie) is an annual special-interest film festival focusing on the cinemas of Asia. The festival is held annually in Vesoul, France. It was create ...

Vesoul Vesoul () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France. It is the most populated municipality of the department with inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'aggl ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. She has been nominated for the best actress award in Fajr Film Festival in 2011 for ''I Am His Wife'' (2011), directed by Mostafa Shayesteh. She has been awarded recently by the jury of the Iranian Fajr Film ّFestival for her last film as best director, actress and producer. She also got a jury award for acting in two films, ''

Wednesday, May 9 ''Wednesday, May 9'' ( fa, Chaharshanbeh, 19 Ordibehesht) is a 2015 Iranian drama film directed by Vahid Jalilvand in his feature debut. It was shown in the Horizons section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival where it won the FIPR ...

'' and ''Death of Fish''.

As a translator

As a film critic

Filmography

Film

Web

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official Website
*
Profile on Cannes Film Festival website
with Radio Zamaneh
Her filmography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karimi, Niki Iranian women film directors Iranian film actresses Iranian film directors Iranian screenwriters Iranian translators Actresses from Tehran People from Tafresh Women screenwriters 1971 births Living people Women film critics Iranian women photographers Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress winners 20th-century Iranian actresses 21st-century Iranian actresses