Introduction
Niki Karimi (Persian: نیکی کریمی) (born September10, 1971 in Tehran) is an Iranian actress, director, and screenwriter.
Biography
Niki Karimi was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. 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.
In 1990, she was cast as a young bride in Behrooz Afkhami's hit film The Bride.
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 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 film, Karimi has also done some translating work. In 1999 she released her first translation work, Marlon Brando's biography Songs My Mother Taught Me, which she translated from English to Persian. She also translated two books by Hanif Kureishi, 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 best actress award in Fajr Film Festival in 2011 for I Am His Wife (2011), directed by Mostafa Shaysteh.
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.
Filmography
As director
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Shift-e Shab | Jury award at Iranian Fajr International Film Festival as best screenwriter, director and producer |
| 2011 | Final Whistle | Three awards at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema [1], Mannheim film festival award for best film |
| 2006 | A Few Days Later | Script won the Rotterdam festivals Hubert Bals Fund |
| 2005 | One Night | Screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival Un certain regard |
| 2001 | To Have or Not to Have | London International Film Festival |
As an actress
| Year | Title | Director | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Taken | Bijan Mirbagheri | |
| 2015 | Wednesday, May 9 | Jury diploma of honor for best Actress in Fajr Film Festival | |
| 2015 | Death of Fish | Jury diploma of honor for best Actress in Fajr Film Festival | |
| 2014 | I'm his wife | Mostafa Shayseh | Nominated for best Actress in Fajr Film Festival |
| 2007 | Three Women | Manijeh Hekmat | |
| 2007 | Two Women | Siroos Alvand | |
| 2006 | A Few Days Later... | Niki Karimi | |
| 2002 | The Fifth Reaction | Tahmineh Milani | Best Actress in Fajr Film Festival (2002) |
| 2002 | Gone with the Wind | Sadra Abdollahi | |
| 2001 | One Flew Over Cuckoo’s Nest | Ahmad Reza Motamedi | Best Actress in Fajr Film Festival (2002) |
| 2000 | The Hidden Half | Tahmineh Milani | Best Actress in Cairo Film Festival (2001) |
| 1999 | Thousand woman like me | Reza Mir-Karimi | |
| 1999 | The Burned Generation | Rassoul Molagholipour | |
| 1998 | The Waiting Girls | Rahman Rezai | |
| 1998 | The Apple of Eve | Saiid Asadi | |
| 1998 | The Actor | Mohammad Ali Sadjadi | |
| 1998 | Two Women | Tahmineh Milani | Best Actress in Taormina Film Fest (1999) |
| 1997 | Takhti | Behrooz Afkhami | |
| 1997 | Pshyco | Dariush Farhang | |
| 1995 | Minoo's Tower | Ebrahim Hatamikia | |
| 1995 | Shadow-by-Shadow | Ali Jakan | |
| 1994 | The Scent of Joseph's Shirt | Ebrahim Hatamikia | |
| 1993 | Pari | Darioush Mehrjouii | |
| 1992 | Sara | Darioush Mehrjouii | Best Actress in San Sebastian film festival (1995), and in Nantes Film Festival (1995) |
| 1991 | The Footsteps of the Wolf | Massoud Kimiaii | |
| 1990 | The Bride | Behrooz Afkhami | Nominated for best Actress in Fajr Film Festival |
| 1989 | Temptation | Jamshid Heydari |
As a screen writer
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Escape |
| 2001 | Auto stop |
| 2000 | To Have or Not to Have |
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 |
|---|---|
| 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 | Member 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 33th Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
| 2014 | Member of Jury at 20th Kolkata International Film Festival, India |
| 2014 | Member of Jury at 5th 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 |
Awards
- Best Actress, Cairo International Film Festival (2001)
- Silver Seashell, San Sebastian Film Festival (1993)
- Best Actress, Nantes Three Continents Festival (1992)