# Niki Karimi

Niki Karimi (Persian: نیکی کریمی; born 10 November 1971) is an Iranian actress and filmmaker. Regarded as "the most prominent figure among the young generations coming after post-Islamic Revolution 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, 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 Tehran, Iran. Her parents are both from Tafresh. 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 Locarno International Film Festival and Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival and also the 60th Cannes Film Festival. She was the assistant of Abbas Kiarostami 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 Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.
Nominated at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival 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's biography Songs My Mother Taught Me, which she translated from English to Persian. She also translated two books by Hanif Kureishi, a Pakistani-English writer.
Her third film as director, Final whistle (2011), won three awards at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in Vesoul, France.
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

| Year | Title |
| 2005 | Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi |
| 1999 | Songs My Mother Taught Me by Marlon Brando, Robert Lindsey |

### As a film critic

| Year | Title |
| 2022 | Member of Jury at Tribeca Film Festival |
| 2021 | Head of Jury at Crime and Punishment film festival, Turkey |
| 2020 | Member of Jury at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Istanbul |
| 2016 | Member of Jury at 35th Istanbul Film Festival, Istanbul |
| 2016 | Member of Jury at 34th Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
| 2015 | Member of Jury at 60th Valladolid International Film Festival, spain |
| 2015 | Head of Jury at 19th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn |
| 2015 | Member of Jury at 10th Batumi International Art-house Film Festival, Batumi |
| 2015 | Member of Jury at 33rd Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
| 2014 | Member of Jury at 20th Kolkata International Film Festival, India |
| 2014 | Head of Jury at 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh |
| 2014 | Member of Jury at 4th International Parvin E'tesami Film Festival, Tehran |
| 2014 | Member of Jury at 12th Pune International Film Festival, India |
| 2013 | Member of Jury at 27th Isfahan International Children Film Festival, Isfahan |
| 2012 | Member of Jury at Abu Dhabi Film Festival |
| 2011 | Member of Jury at International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival |
| 2009 | Member of Jury at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival |
| 2008 | Member of Jury at Dubai International Film Festival |
| 2007 | Member of Jury at Berlin Film Festival |
| 2007 | Member of Jury at Cannes Film Festival |
| 2007 | Member of Jury at Durban International Film Festival |
| 2006 | Head of Jury at Reykjavik International Film Festival |
| 2005 | Member of Jury at Locarno International Film Festival |
| 2005 | Member of Jury at Thessaloniki Film Festival |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1990 | Temptation | Gohar | Jamshid Heydari | |
| 1991 | The Bride | Mahin Nazeri | Behrouz Afkhami | |
| 1993 | The Wolf's Trail | Negin | Masoud Kimiai | |
| 1993 | Sara | Sara | Dariush Mehrjui | |
| 1995 | The Scent of Joseph's Shirt | Shirin | Ebrahim Hatamikia | |
| 1995 | Pari | Pari | Dariush Mehrjui | |
| 1997 | Wind and Poppy | | Ziaeddin Dori | |
| 1997 | Minoo Watch Tower | Minoo | Ebrahim Hatamikia | |
| 1997 | Shadow by Shadow | Gila | Ali Zhekan | |
| 1997 | Psycho | Maryam | Dariush Farhang | |
| 1998 | Jahan Pahlavan Takhti | Director's wife | Ali Hatami, Behrouz Afkhami | |
| 1999 | Eve's Red Apple | Neda | Saeed Asadi | |
| 1999 | Two Women | Fereshteh | Tahmineh Milani | |
| 1999 | Girls in Expectancy | Roshanak | Rahman Rezaei | |
| 1999 | The Afflicted Generation | | Rasoul Mollagholipour | |
| 2000 | The Mix | | Dariush Mehrjui | |
| 2000 | Actor | Roya | Mohammad Ali Sadjadi | |
| 2001 | ABC Africa | | Abbas Kiarostami | as assistant director |
| 2001 | A Thousand Women Like Me | Shahrzad | Ali Karimi | |
| 2001 | The Hidden Half | Fereshteh | Tahmineh Milani | |
| 2001 | To Have or Not to Have | | Niki Karimi | also screenwriter |
| 2003 | The Fifth Reaction | Fereshteh | Tahmineh Milani | |
| 2003 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Yalda | Ahmad Reza Motamedi | |
| 2004 | The Ransomer | Rana | Farzad Motamen | |
| 2005 | One Night | | Niki Karimi | also screenwriter |
| 2005 | Top of the Tower | Leila | Kiumars Pourahmad | |
| 2005 | Gone with the Wind | Tahmineh | Sadra Abdollahi | |
| 2006 | Wedding Dinner | Mitra | Ebrahim Vahidzadeh | |
| 2006 | Havana File | Zoya Fani | Alireza Raeesian | |
| 2006 | A Few Days Later | Shahrzad | Niki Karimi | also screenwriter |
| 2006 | Who Killed Amir? | Ziba Zibadoost | Mehdi Karampour | |
| 2006 | Stars 2: She's a Star | Farzaneh Mashreghi | Fereydoun Jeyrani | |
| 2007 | The Other Wife | Mahtab | Sirus Alvand | |
| 2007 | The Music Box | Ali's mother | Farzad Motamen | |
| 2008 | Three Women | Minoo | Manijeh Hekmat | |
| 2008 | Women Are Angels | Nazanin | Shahram Shah Hosseini | |
| 2008 | Mr. Seven Colors | Firoozeh | Shahram Shah Hosseini | |
| 2008 | Shirin | Woman in Audience | Abbas Kiarostami | |
| 2009 | Hot Chocolate | Banoo | Hamed Kolahdari | |
| 2009 | 24th Street | Nazanin | Saeed Asadi | |
| 2009 | Trial on the Street | Nasim | Masoud Kimiai | |
| 2009 | The Day Goes and the Night Comes | Marjan | Omid Bonakdar, Keyvan Alimohammadi | |
| 2010 | Hey to Love | Mitra | Asghar Naeemi | |
| 2010 | Democracy in Daylight | Ms. Ehsani | Ali Atshani | |
| 2010 | Two Sisters | Mahtab | Mohammad Banki | |
| 2011 | The Playfellow | Naghmeh | Gholam Reza Ramezani | |
| 2011 | Wakefulness | Yasaman | Farzad Motamen | |
| 2011 | Final Whistle | Sahar | Niki Karimi | also screenwriter, producer |
| 2011 | Crime | Atefeh | Masoud Kimiai | |
| 2011 | Along the City | Fariba | Ali Atshani | |
| 2011 | The Princess of the Moon | | Elham Gharehkhani, Mehrtash Mahdavi | |
| 2011 | Calm Streets | The Reporter | Kamal Tabrizi | |
| 2012 | The Presiden's Cell Phone | Mrs. Tayebi | Ali Atshani | |
| 2012 | I'm His Wife | Shahla | Mostafa Shayesteh | |
| 2013 | Annunciation to a Third Millennium Citizen | Mrs. Safaii | Mohammad Hadi Karimi | |
| 2014 | Raspberry | Homa | Saman Salur | |
| 2014 | Life Is Elsewhere | Shahrzad | Manouchehr Hadi | |
| 2015 | Wednesday, May 9 | Leila | Vahid Jalilvand | |
| 2015 | Night Shift | Roya | Niki Karimi | also screenwriter, producer |
| 2015 | Death of the Fish | Tahmineh | Rouhollah Hejazi | |
| 2016 | Stolen | Mina | Bijan Mirbagheri | |
| 2017 | Human Comedy | | Mohammad Hadi Karimi | |
| 2017 | Azar | Azar | Mohammad Hamzei | also producer |
| 2017 | Maybe It Wasn’t Love | | Saeed Ebrahimifar | |
| 2018 | The Truck | | Kambuzia Partovi | |
| 2018 | Astigmatism | Mrs. Namiri | Majid Reza Mostafavi | |
| 2020 | Atabai | | Niki Karimi | also screenwriter, producer |
| 2022 | Squad of Girls | Yeganeh Kamayi | Monir Gheidi | |
| 2022 | Until Tomorrow | | Ali Asgari | as producer |
| 2022 | Laleh | | Asadollah Niknejad | |
| TBA | A Time in Eternity | | Mehdi Norouzian | as producer |

### Web

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Platform |
| 2018 | Forbidden | Parvaneh Asadzadeh | Amir Pourkian | Video CD |
| 2020–2021 | Blue Blood | Tina Fazlirad | Behrang Tofighi | Filimo, Namava |
| 2022 | Rebel | Shima | Mohammad Kart | Filimo |
| 2023–2024 | Seven | | Kiarash Asadizadeh | Tamashakhaneh |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Network | Notes |
| 1995 | Life | | Mohammad Reza A'alami | IRIB TV1 | TV series |
| 2015–2016 | Kimia | Mahboubeh Maleki | Javad Afshar | IRIB TV2 | TV series |
| 2023–2024 | Homeland | Shaparak Bahadori | Kamal Tabrizi | IRIB TV3 | TV series |

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Year | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
| Bratislava International Film Festival | 2015 | Best Actress | Wednesday, May 9 | Won |
| Cairo International Film Festival | 2001 | Best Actress | The Hidden Half | Won |
| Cambridge Film Festival | 2021 | Best Fiction Feature | Atabai | Nominated |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2005 | Un Certain Regard | One Night | Nominated |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2005 | Caméra d'Or | One Night | Nominated |
| Dhaka International Film Festival | 2022 | Best Feature Film – Women Film Maker's Section | Atabai | Nominated |
| Dubai International Film Festival | 2011 | Best Feature Film | Final Whistle | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 1991 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | The Bride | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 1993 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Sara | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 1995 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Pari | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 1998 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Psycho | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 1999 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Two Women | Honorary Diploma |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2003 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Fifth Reaction | Won |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2015 | Special Jury Prize | Night Shift | Honorary Diploma |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2020 | Best Film | Atabai | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2020 | Best Director | Atabai | Nominated |
| Fribourg International Film Festival | 2007 | Grand Prix | A Few Days Later | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 1998 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | Psycho | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 1999 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | Two Women | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2001 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | The Hidden Half | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2003 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2016 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | Wednesday, May 9 | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2023 | Best Motion Picture | Atabai | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2023 | Best Director – Motion Picture | Atabai | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2023 | Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Atabai | Nominated |
| Hong Kong Asian Film Festival | 2007 | New Talent Award | A Few Days Later | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 1999 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Two Women | Won |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2000 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | The Afflicted Generation | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2001 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | The Hidden Half | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2003 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | The Fifth Reaction | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2007 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Stars 2: She's a Star | Nominated |
| Iranian Cinema Directors' Great Celebration | 2022 | Best Film Director | Atabai | Nominated |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2015 | Best Actree in a Leading Role | Wednesday, May 9 | Nominated |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2022 | Best Film | Atabai | Won |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2022 | Best Director | Atabai | Won |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2022 | Best Screenplay | Atabai | Won |
| Nantes Three Continents Festival | 1993 | Best Actress | Sara | Won |
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | 1993 | Best Actress | Sara | Won |
| Sofia Menar Film Festival | 2022 | Best Film | Atabai | Nominated |
| Taormina International Film Festival | 1999 | Best Actress | Two Women | Won |
| Thessaloniki Film Festival | 2005 | Golden Alexander | One Night | Nominated |
| Torino Film Festival | 2005 | Best Feature Film | One Night | Nominated |
| Torino Film Festival | 2005 | Special Mention | One Night | Won |
| Vesoul Asian Film Festival | 2012 | Emile Guimet Award | Final Whistle | Won |
| Vesoul Asian Film Festival | 2012 | INALCO Jury Award | Final Whistle | Won |
| Vesoul Asian Film Festival | 2012 | High Schools Award | Final Whistle | Won |
| Vesoul Asian Film Festival | 2012 | Golden Wheel | Final Whistle | Nominated |