Leila Hatami honored in Canada

TEHRAN.(Iranart) - Phoenix Cultural Center and Cine Iran Festival in Toronto held a special event for Iran’s accomplished actress Leila Hatami on July 22-23 at the main venue of Toronto International Film Festival.

At the ceremony, movies ‘What Is the Time in Your World?’ (2014) by Safi Yazdanian and ‘Leila’ (1996) by Dariush Mehrjui in which Hatami plays the lead role were shown and after that the audience attended a Q&A session with  Hatami, ISNA reported.

After watching ‘Leila’ with the Iranian and Canadian audiences, she said that it was the first major film in her artistic resume and the place where she met her future husband, Ali Mosafa.

In ‘Leila’, a drama romance, she played an Iranian woman in love against Ali Mosafa who played the leading male role as her husband. The two later got married and now have two children.

The memorable Hatami-Mosafa presence in the movie has excited the audience who now look forward to their next collaborations,  namely  ‘What Is the Time in Your World?’, ‘The Last Step’, ‘There Are Things That You Do Not Know’ and ‘Portrait of a Lady Far Away’.

After the screenings, she was awarded a commendation letter for 20 years of cinematic activity.

A three-hour workshop on acting by Hatami and Hussein Moazezinia, a film critic, was another program at the event.

Hatami’s first roles were in her father Ali Hatami’s masterpieces, such as ‘Kamalolmolk’ where she played a sweet and innocent little kid and later in ‘Delshodegaan’ where she was brilliant as a young blind Turk princess in love.

On August 12, Hatami will watch ‘Leila’ together with the public in Vancouver and later talk to them about the film.

During her 20 years of acting, Hatami has played in over 30 films and two TV series and won numerous awards at local and international festivals.

Hatami has served as a jury member in several foreign film events as well and has translated three books.

CineIran is an annual festival of contemporary Iranian cinema held in Toronto. The third edition of the festival will be held November 17-19.