The multiple award winning movie, Nader and Simin: A Separation, by the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi was screened on the fourth day of the Kustendorf International Film and Music Festival 2012 as part of the CONTEMPORARY TRENDS programme. After the screening, Leila Hatami, who plays the lead role in the movie, and who represents the jury of this year's festival, held a workshop at which she spoke about working on the movie, about Farhadi – who she says is an excellent storyteller about the complex human emotions that this movies deals with, and about the conflict between the generations and cultures.

After the workshop, Leila Hatami talked to the Kustendorf website about herself and her impressions of our festival.

Last week, Nader and Simin: A Separation won a Golden Globe and is a favorite in the Oscar category for Best Foreign Film. The movie won a Golden Bear at last year's Berlin Film Festival and you got the award for best female role. How important are these awards and how helpful are they to your career?

- Obviously they are very important. We are all enjoying it and we are really happy. Somehow it’s too early to tell how they will influence my career - so many things have happened really fast, but this will surely open a new door to me.

At Kustendorf 2012, you represent a jury that decides on the best movie in the Competition Programme. Is this a new role for you and how to you feel in that role?

- It’s my first experience of being a judge for short students’ films. I am really impressed by what I can see here. It is unbelievable – they are truly good and amazing. I am happy to have been chosen for this role, which I find very important for its power to encourage very young and motivated directors. You have to be really careful because it’s much more difficult than judging long films who have already had success. 

The director Asghar Farhadi was a guest of our festival in 2010. Did he tell you about Kustendorf and what are your impressions now that you are here?

- No, not at all, it was a big surprise. I saw photos on the internet and I had a vague idea of this area, but it is incomparable to what I have discovered here. I needed a place like this. I was choking in Tehran and I am so happy to be away from a city, to be cut off from the world and so close to nature in these very kind arms in the old houses. At the same time, I can participate in film and music festival. This is perfect – I cannot say any other word other than perfect.