News from Hollywood has alerted us about a fabulous actress, Maryam Tarami, that we interviewed in our May 25th, 2013 issue (click on to see article). Currently she is starring in the movie ‘February’ and has won the award for Lead Actress in the Red Dirt Film Festival in Oklahoma. The film was chosen above 1,000 other entries in the event.
Asked about the film, Maryam responded, ”February is based on a true story of a woman from Iran. Last year I met a woman who shared stories about her homeland Iran and how she one day left everything behind for freedom.”
Michael Florie, the Executive Producer on the project said of Maryam, I met Maryam by accident after she worked on a movie I was executive producer on. Her vision on life and film making got my attention. After she shared her ideas for February I was pleasantly surprised by the unusual concept and agreed to be the executive producer on the project. I made the right choice as the Short takes us through the 4 strongest human emotions in 10 minutes. Compassion, romance, suspicion and fear! She put down an excellent performance as the female lead and I see a great future for her as actress and producer! She is one of a few!
“Siar Sedig was soon attached as the director. Siar’s parents fled to the Netherlands as refugees from Afghanistan. I think this experience was a great input for him to direct February.”
Siar added, “February has taught me a lot as a film director. It was my first time working on a short film with a producer, and screenwriters other than my self. I’m glad I had a certain freedom in which I could explore the screenplay and make it my own.
February is of course the end result, but the on going process of changing ideas back and forth and to be able to create a believable story
out of a 10 pages together with the actors has been a very pleasant experience. That’s the best part of being a director.”
February was selected from nearly 1000 films and obtained the nominations: Best Production Design, Best Writing, Best Lead Actress and Best Foreign Film. Grey Fredrickson (producer of The Godfather Trilogy) received a Special Award for his contribution to the festival. Since February’s premiere in September 2014 the film has screened at several International Film Festivals in the United States, Estonia and Italy.
Maryam stated, ”We have been getting great reactions from the audience. What is interesting is that many viewers have questioned me whether I have experienced the oppression of my character in February myself. This is not the case! I grew up in the Netherlands since I was a young girl and always had a lot of freedom. Yet since my conversation with the woman from Iran, I am more aware that the freedom I grew up with in the Netherlands is not a matter of course. This better understanding somehow makes me appreciate things more.”
She added, “Our film was selected from nearly 1000 films and obtained the nominations: Best Production Design, Best Writing, Best Lead Actress en Best Foreign Film. At the event there were some bigger Industry names too such as Grey Fredrickson (producer of The Godfather Trilogy) who got a Special Award for his contribution to the festival.”
“Siar Sedig was responsible for the direction of February written by Ashar Medina and Wander Theunis. February was produced by myself and Michael Florie! Since our release in September 2014 February has been selected at several film festivals worldwide.”
Dutch magazine Viva has also nominated Maryam as ‘Most Inspirational Woman’. You can find out more about her on her IMDb by clicking on her link http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3883439.
TAEM
Online Clip: https://vimeo.com/90808855
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