Niki Karimi (; born 10 November 1971) is an Iranian

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and filmmaker. Regarded as "the most prominent figure among the young generations coming after post-Islamic

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

Iranian Cinema", she has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh, three Hafez Awards, an Iran Cinema Celebration Award, and three Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Awards. Born in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, 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.

Early life

Niki Karimi was born on November 10, 1971, in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Her parents are both from

Tafresh Tafresh () is a city in the Central District (Tafresh County), Central District of Tafresh County, Markazi province, Markazi province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Tafresh is located amidst high mountains sou ...

. 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), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

, the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

and

Thessaloniki International Film Festival The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) is a film festival held every November in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is organized by the Thessaloniki Film Festival under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture. It features internationa ...

and

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

and also the 60th Cannes Film Festival. She was the assistant of

Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including s ...

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

. Nominated at the

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Belgian filmmakers D ...

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 films, Karimi has also done translating work. In 1999 she released her first translation,

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

's biography '' Songs My Mother Taught Me,'' which she translated from English to

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. She also translated two books by

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British Pakistani playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and novelist. He is known for his film '' My Beautiful Laundrette'' and novel '' The Buddha of Suburbia''. Early life and education Hanif Kureish ...

, 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 () is an annual special-interest film festival focusing on the cinemas of Asia. The festival is held annually in Vesoul, France. It was created in 1995 by Martine and Jean-Marc Thérouanne who ...

Vesoul Vesoul ( ) is a Communes of France, commune in the predominantly rural Haute-Saône department, of which it is the Prefectures in France, prefecture, or capital, in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern Franc ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. 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'' and ''Death of Fish''.

As a translator

As a film critic

https://sekebaroon.com/

Filmography

Film

Web

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official Website
*
Profile on Cannes Film Festival website
with

Radio Zamaneh Radio Zamaneh () is an Amsterdam-based Persian language exile news platform and former radio broadcaster with a leftist approach. "Zamaneh" is the Persian literary term for "time". Radio Zamaneh is an independent Persian-language exile media and ...

Her filmography

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