Amira Casar is a French-British actress of Kurdish descent.

Amira Casar is the daughter of a Kurdish father, and a Russian mother.

Amira was born in London and was subsequently raised in England, Ireland, and France.^[1] She studied drama at the Conservatoire National d'Art Dramatique de Paris between 1991 and 1994.^[2] She is fluent in both English and French, and has worked in German, Italian, and Spanish.^{[citation needed]}

Casar's first role was in the 1989 film Erreur de jeunesse [fr] (Error of Youth) by Radovan Tadic [fr].^[3] 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.^[4] She later appeared in the film's two sequels, in 2001 and 2012.^[5][6]

Casar portrayed Myriem in How I Killed My Father (2001) by Anne Fontaine;^[7] Assia Wevill in Sylvia (2003) by Christine Jeffs;^[8] the lead role of The Woman in the Catherine Breillat erotic film Anatomy of Hell (2004);^[2][9] 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.^[10]

Other roles include Marianne in Hypnotized and Hysterical (2002),^[11] a film by Claude Duty [fr] 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);^[12] and Marie in Tony Gatlif's Transylvania in 2006.^[13]

In 2007, Casar appeared in installation artist Sophie Calle's Venice Biennale piece Prenez soin de vous (Take Care of Yourself).^[2]

In 2008, she played Dolorès in Laetitia Masson's Coupable [fr],^[14] and portrayed Irene in Werner Schroeter's last film, Nuit de chien.^[15] Casar played the lead role of Anna Di Baggio in the Éléonore Faucher film Gamines [fr] in 2009.^[16]

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 [fr] in 2010.^[17] In 2011, Casar played Irène in Let My People Go ! [fr],^[18] and Deniz in Playoff.^[19][20] In 2013, she appeared in the Arnaud des Pallières film Michael Kohlhaas,^[21][22] and portrayed Anne-Marie Munoz in Bertrand Bonello's Saint Laurent in 2014.^[3]

In 2015, Casar appeared in The Forbidden Room by Canadian director Guy Maddin.^[23] and portrayed Béatrice, Madame de Clermont, in the TV series Versailles.^[24][25] In 2017, she played Annella Perlman in the film Call Me by Your Name.^[26] She also appeared in the 2019 Caroline Fourest film Sisters in Arms, about a team of female Kurdish soldiers and volunteers.^[27]

In 2022, Casar appeared in the film The Contractor.^[28] She portrayed Edith Frank, the mother of Anne Frank, in the 2023 Disney+ series A Small Light.^[28]

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.^{[citation needed]} In 2011, she appeared in the title role of Petra in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,^[29][30] and received critical acclaim in Arthur Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Barbican Centre with the London Symphony Orchestra.^[31]

Casar also appeared in the 1995 Bryan Adams music video for "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?".^[32]

• 1998 – Nomination: César Award for Most Promising Actress for La Vérité si je mens !^[4]
• 2016 – Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters^[33]