The film follows Iranian female judoka Leila (Arienne Mandi) and her coach Maryam (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), who travel to the World Judo Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. This includes a possible encounter with an Israeli athlete, something that the Mullah regime prohibits. Midway through the competition, Leila and her coach receive repeated threats from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and drop out of the tournament. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila faces a difficult choice: feign injury and comply with the Iranian regime as Maryam implores her to do, or defy them both and fight on, for the gold.

Q&A to follow screening

2023 ‧ Thriller/Drama ‧ 1h 43m

Directors: Guy Nattiv, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
Starring: Arienne Mandi, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Jaime Ray Newman
Languages: English, Farsi
Distributed by: XYZ Films

Presented by LAJFF with Museum of Tolerance and XYZ Films, in partnership with Mean Streets Productions, Maccabi USA, Project Max, Iranian American Jewish Federation.