Amira Casar

Amira Casar (née Zangeneh) is the daughter of Iranian parents. Her mother is a famous opera and folk singer, Pari Zangheneh.[1] Her older sister, Shahpari Azam Zanganeh, was the third wife of the billionaire Saudi playboy and arms dealer, Adnan Kashoggi.[2]

Amira was born in London and was subsequently raised in England, Ireland, and France.[3] She studied drama at the Conservatoire National d'Art Dramatique de Paris between 1991 and 1994.[4] She is fluent in both English, Farsi, and French and has worked in German, Italian, and Spanish.

Casar's first role was in the 1989 film Erreur de jeunesse (Error of Youth) by Radovan Tadic.[5] She played Sandra Benzakhem in the 1997 film La Vérité si je mens !, for which she was nominated for a César Award for Most Promising Actress.[6] She later appeared in the film's two sequels, in 2001 and 2012.[7][8]

Casar portrayed Myriem in How I Killed My Father (2001) by Anne Fontaine;[9] Assia Wevill in Sylvia (2003) by Christine Jeffs;[10] the lead role of The Woman in the Catherine Breillat erotic film Anatomy of Hell (2004);[4][11] and Eva in To Paint or Make Love (2005) by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.[12]

Other roles include Marianne in Hypnotized and Hysterical (2002),[13] a film by Claude Duty which won the Grand Golden Rail at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival; Malvina van Stille in The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes by the Brothers Quay (2005);[14] and Marie in Tony Gatlif's Transylvania in 2006.[15]

In 2007, Casar appeared in installation artist Sophie Calle's Venice Biennale piece Prenez soin de vous (Take Care of Yourself).[4]

In 2008, she played Dolorès in Laetitia Masson's Coupable,[16] and portrayed Irene in Werner Schroeter's last film, Nuit de chien.[17] Casar played the lead role of Anna Di Baggio in the Éléonore Faucher film Gamines in 2009.[18]

She won the Best Actress award at La Rochelle Television Film Festival for her portrayal of Dora Maar in La femme qui pleure au chapeau rouge in 2010.[19] In 2011, Casar played Irène in Let My People Go !,[20] and Deniz in Playoff.[21][22] In 2013, she appeared in the Arnaud des Pallières film Michael Kohlhaas,[23][24] and portrayed Anne-Marie Munoz in Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent in 2014.[5]

In 2015, Casar appeared in The Forbidden Room by Canadian director Guy Maddin.[25] and portrayed Béatrice, Madame de Clermont, in the TV series Versailles.[26][27] In 2017, she played Annella Perlman in the film Call Me by Your Name.[28] She also appeared in the 2019 Caroline Fourest film Sisters in Arms, about a team of female Kurdish soldiers and volunteers.[29]

In 2022, Casar appeared in the film The Contractor.[30] She portrayed Edith Frank, the mother of Anne Frank, in the 2023 Disney+ series A Small Light.[30]

On stage, Casar's work includes the Almeida Theatre production of Aunt Dan and Lemon; the title role in Hedda Gabler at Le Petit Théâtre de Paris; and Olivier Py's 2009 production of Les Enfants de Saturne at the Theatre National de L'Odéon, Paris. In 2011, she appeared in the title role of Petra in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,[31][32] and received critical acclaim in Arthur Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Barbican Centre with the London Symphony Orchestra.[33]

Casar also appeared in the 1995 Bryan Adams music video for "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?".[34]

• 1998 – Nomination: César Award for Most Promising Actress for La Vérité si je mens ![6]
• 2016 – Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters[35]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amira Casar.

• Amira Casar at IMDb