Academy Award winner Guy Nattiv. Photo Credit: Heather Smith.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Guy Nattiv chatted about his new sports thriller “Tatami,” which stars Arienne Mandi.
This marks the first feature that was co-directed by Nattiv and Cannes “Best Actress” winner Zar Amir Ebrahimi. This movie was inspired by true events. It’s a talent of freedom vs. oppression set in a judo arena.
In 2019, Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman won the Academy Award for “Best Live Action Short Film” for “Skin.”
Lessons learned from this screenplay
On the lessons learned from this screenplay, Nattiv shared, “What I am taking from the entire shooting and the entire story is that we were taught to hate each other in our own countries. I was taught that Zar is my enemy, and she was taught that I am the big enemy for her.”
“We found ourselves that we are from the same family,” he revealed. “We are brothers and sisters… we collaborate; it’s a beautiful collaboration between people. The government is poisoning us to hate each other, and we did the opposite of what our government wanted us to do.”
“We defeat the regimes that were toxifying us. I feel that it taught us a lot about the human spirit; we love the same things (we love the same food, music, and everything else),” Nattiv noted.
“We can make this gem of an art together that is based on the human condition,” Nattiv said. “It is based on the spirit of bringing love to the world and not hate. We want to see more collaborations like that with people.”
“We saw that with ‘No Other Land,’ a documentary that won the Oscar for ‘Best Documentary Feature,’ where an Israeli and a Palestinian director collaborated,” he added.
Advice for young and aspiring filmmakers
For young and emerging filmmakers, he said, “To make short films is a good start. Your short film can be the DNA for a long one. Anyone can do short films today.”
“Create,” he underscored. “Don’t wait for money; don’t wait for the budget. Just make your films. If we were to wait to have enough money to make a movie, we would never make it.”
“So, we made it for less money but we did our art without any restrictions and without anyone telling us what to do,” Nattiv acknowledged.
“So, just make art and make short films, and put your work out there in the world. You never know what is going to happen,” he added.
Nattiv on directing ‘Golda,’ working with Helen Mirren
Nattiv opened up about directing “Golda,” which stars Dame Helen Mirren in the title role of Golda Meir, the first female prime minister of Israel.
“Directing ‘Golda’ was a blast from the past,” Nattiv admitted. “The film ‘Golda’ was a different ballgame because it wasn’t my script, and I was hired to direct it.”
“Working with Helen Mirren was a masterclass for me,” Nattiv admitted. “It felt like working with the best of the best. Helen is just the top of the top. It was a big honor to work with her. Helen has two mottos in life: ‘be on time’ and ‘know your lines.’ She is the best!”
Nattiv’s closing thoughts on ‘Tatami’
“I want the audience to know that there is a different path for all of us as human beings. Fight for your freedom,” Nattiv underscored.
“We all want to fight for our rights and our freedon,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are Iranian, Palestinian, Israeli, Cuba, North Korean, South Korean, or Italian… this movie speaks about every human in the world, especially women’s rights.”
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