Tatami

While Iranian female judo fighter Leila is performing spectacularly well at the Judo World Championships, she receives an ultimatum from her government. Should she give up, or follow her dream? Nail-biting sports thriller.

Midway through the Judo World Championships, Leila and her coach Maryam receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic: Leila should fake an injury and lose. If she refuses, she will be branded a traitor of the state.  

With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice. Will she comply with the Iranian regime, as her coach Maryam implores her to do? Or will she fight on and go for gold? Tatami is both a riveting story of an athlete trying to achieve gold, and a political thriller where Iranian women are subjected to persecution, intimidation and possibly kidnapping at the hands of their country’s far-reaching authoritarian regime.