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 annual Fajr International Film Festival ( fa, جشنواره بین‌المللی فیلم فجر), or Fajr Film Festival (litt ...

, three

Hafez Awards Hafez Awards is an annual awards ceremony which is held honoring cinematic achievements in Iranian cinema. The awards, first presented in 1997, are presented by Picture World Magazine (Aka. Donyaye Tassvir in Persian) which makes it to be known a ...

, 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 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 the most popul ...

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 Turkmeni ...

. Her parents are both from

Tafresh Tafresh ( fa, تفرش, ''Tafreš'') is a city and the capital of Tafresh County, in Markazi Province, Iran. As of the 2011 census, its population was 25,912 (including 12,884 men and 13,028 women). Tafresh is located amidst high mountains so ...

. 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 Behrouz Afkhami ( fa, بهروز افخمی; born October 24, 1956) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. He is known for a style that utilizes Point of view shot, point of view camera techniques to portray stories of human drama. He was ...

's hit film ''The Bride''. Karimi began her career in the late 1980s. She received critical acclaim for her performance in ''

Sara Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

'' (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 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

, 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 ti ...

, 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, sh ...

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 The 60th Cannes Film Festival ran from 16 to 27 May 2007. The President of the Jury was British director Stephen Frears. Twenty two films from twelve countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 26 May. ''4 M ...

. She was the assistant of

Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 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 ...

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 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 Belgium, Belgian film ''L'Enfant (film), L'Enfant ...

for her feature film directorial debut ''

One Night One Night or 1 Night may refer to: Film * ''One Night'' (2002 film), a film produced by Winchester Films * ''One Night'' (2005 film), an Iranian film directed by Niki Karimi * ''One Night'' (2007 film), a film featuring Christian Campbell and ...

'' (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 Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

's biography ''

Songs My Mother Taught Me Songs My Mother Taught Me may refer to: Books * ''Songs My Mother Taught Me'', Audrey Thomas 1973 * ''Songs My Mother Taught Me'' (Marlon Brando book), an autobiography by Marlon Brando * ''Songs My Mother Taught Me'', a collection of stories and ...

,'' 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 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 writers since 1945. Early l ...

, 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'agglo ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 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

Filmography

Film

Web

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official Website
*
Profile on Cannes Film Festival website
with

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

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