Actress Niki Karimi to preside over jury of Intl. Crime and Punishment Film Festival 

November 3, 2021 - 18:38

TEHRAN – Iranian actress-director Niki Karimi has been selected as the president of the official competition of the 11th International Crime and Punishment Film Festival in Turkey.

The jury of the Golden Scale Feature Film Competition also includes Ukrainian cineaste Bohdan Zhuk, Bulgarian film expert Mira Staleva, director Pelin Esmer and actor Mehmet Aslantug, both from Turkey. 

The festival will take place in Istanbul from November 26 to December 2.

50-year-old Karimi has worked as an actress, director and producer in over 60 films and won awards in several international festivals including, San Sebastian, Cairo and Nantes.

She began her work as an actress with films such as “The Bride” by Behruz Afkhami and “Sara” by Dariush Mehrjui, which she won best actress award at the San Sebastian film festival and at Nantes film festival in 1992. 

She made her directorial debut in 2005 with “One Night”, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.

“A Few Days Later”, “Final Whistle”, and “Night Shift” are other film directed by Karimi. Her latest drama “Atabai” will be screened at the 40th edition of the Cambridge Film Festival in November in England.

Karimi has also served as a jury member for numerous festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Edinburgh, Dubai and Damascus.

She was selected for the jury of the 57th International Antalya Film Festival organized in October 2020 in the Turkish tourist resort.

In June 2021, Karimi declined an invitation to join the jury of the main competition of the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) over the organizers’ COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures for the jury members.

She turned down the festival’s invitation to join the jury due to a fortnight’s quarantine for the jury members at the festival venue and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Photo: Actress/director Niki Karimi in an undated photo. (Mehr/Majid Haqdoost)  

MMS/YAW