Leila Hatami Among 21st Century Best Actresses

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – B ased on a list issued recently by Indiwire Website, a famous daily news site of the independent film community, the performance of renowned Iranian actress Leila Hatami in the movie ‘A Separation’ has been placed among the 25 best female performances of the 21st century.

“Much has been made about the dearth of strong female roles in contemporary cinema, and the problematic depictions of women in many recent movies, but the past two decades have provided plenty of counterexamples. While the onus is on writers and directors to craft strong female characters, the actresses themselves bring these figures to life, and they’re often the main reason we keep being drawn back to these works,” the website says about the reason behind the selection of top performers.

Referring to the well-deserved Oscar won by the director of the film, Asghar Farhadi, the section about Hatami says, “Leila Hatami deserved one (Oscar), too.”

In the feature film, ‘A Separation’, Hatami plays a woman keen on immigrating to another country and when her husband does not budge she decides to go it alone.

“The courts stand in her way - but that’s just the start of their problems ... Hatami gives the movie a commanding center as a determined woman keen on taking control of her surroundings even as they slowly close in on her.

She exudes desperation but never takes it to histrionic extremes. Much about the success of the performance extends from frustrated glances and baffled reactions as the court and other accusers continue to heap discomfort on her life. However, her resilience adds a transcendent dimension to the role on par with Farhadi’s nuanced script,” the website wrote.

During her 20-year acting career, Hatami has played in over 30 films and two TV series and won awards at local and international festivals.

She has served as a jury member in several foreign film events, like the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Juliette Binoche for her performance in ‘Certified Copy’ directed by the famous Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami (1940-2016) is also included in the website’s list with no particular order or numbering.

Kirsten Dunst for her performance in ‘Melancholia’, Scarlett Johansson for ‘Under the Skin’, Emmanuelle Riva for the French movie ‘Amour’, and Marion Cotillard for ‘La Vie En Rose’ are some other famous actresses on the list.