The movie “TATAMI” won two awards at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival: Special Jury Award and Best Actress Award. A preview video for this work, in which judoka Uta Abe takes on the role of preview narration for the first time, has been released.
This film is produced by Israeli-born Guy Nattiv, who won the 91st Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film for “SKIN Short” and also released a feature-length version distributed by A24, and the director of “Spiders Spread Their Webs in the Holy Land.” A political sports entertainment directed by Zahra Amir, who won the Best Actress Award at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. For the first time in film history, “TATAMI” is a social drama based on a true story, co-directed by two people with Israeli and Iranian roots. This film depicts the unyielding “battle” of athletes against the backdrop of political interference in the sports world, the complex situation in the Middle East, and the oppression of women in Iranian society.
The recently released preview video shows the nervous expression of Iranian representative Leila Hosseini (Arienne Mandy), who is looking forward to the match. In the first round, he won the ippon, followed by a comfortable victory with a “supporting fishing foot”, and then a “arm-hishigi-juji-gatame”, resulting in his third consecutive victory. The live announcer also praised her skills, calling her a “candidate for the win,” and her husband, Nadel, who was watching on TV, couldn’t help but pump his fists. At that moment, Leila, who is making good progress toward the gold medal, and her coach Maryam Gambari (Zahra Amir), who has been practicing in pairs, suddenly receives a phone call. The voice comes from the Iranian Judo Association. The order was for Leila to “abstain” in order to avoid a match with the enemy nation of Israel. Leila refuses, saying, “I don’t want to lose on purpose,” but Maryam sternly tells her, “This is an order from the state.” Furthermore, a government agent appears before Leila, and Leila is forced to “obey orders” if she wants to save her detained father.
The special preview video also includes a special message from Abe, who was in charge of narration, saying, “It was a moving movie that touched my heart, and was very interesting.I hope everyone will watch it.”
▼Abe Poetry
It’s a wonderful movie, and I’m very grateful to have been given the opportunity to narrate it. I was surprised to learn that something that we, as Japanese players, would never have thought of happened in real life. Although the word “fight” itself is common, the motives and meaning of fighting are completely different, and I was able to think deeply about it in terms of my own judo life. I was left with an impression of the main character sticking to his will and fighting for freedom, even if it meant sacrificing his family. In particular, I strongly sympathized with the determination and strong feelings with which he approached the match.
The movie “TATAMI” will be released nationwide from February 28, 2025 (Friday).
Work information
Movie “TATAMI”
The Women’s World Judo Championships are being held in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Iranian representative Leila Hosseini and her coach, Maryam Gambari, are making good progress, but just as they are about to win the gold medal, they are ordered by the government to withdraw from the tournament to avoid competing against their enemy, Israel. At risk to himself and his hostage family, will he feign injury and obey the Iranian government, or will he continue to fight for his freedom and dignity? You are forced to make the biggest decision of your life.
Director: Guy Nattiv, Zahra Amir
Starring: Arienne Mundy, Zahra Amir, Jamie Ray Newman
Distribution: Mimosa Films
© 2023 Judo Production LLC. All Rights Reserved
©Park 24/Kazuyuki Ogawa
February 28, 2025 (Friday) Shinjuku Piccadilly and other nationwide releases
Official websitemimosafilms.com/tatami/
