Opponent (film)

2023 Swedish-Norwegian drama film

Opponent

Promotional release poster

Swedish| Motståndaren
Directed by| Milad Alami
Written by| Milad Alami
Produced by| Annika Rogell
Starring| Payman Maadi
Marall Nasiri
Björn Elgerd
Cinematography| Sebastian Winterø
Edited by| Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Music by| Carl-Johan Sevedag
Jan Ekstrand

Production
companies

Ape&Bjørn
Tangy

Distributed by| TriArt Film

Release date

* 18 February 2023 (2023-02-18) (Berlin)

Running time

| 119 minutes
Countries| Sweden
Norway
Languages| Swedish
Persian

Opponent (Swedish: Motståndaren; Persian: دشمن) is a 2023 drama film written and directed by Milad Alami.[1] The film stars Payman Maadi as Iman, an Iranian man who has moved to Sweden as a refugee with his wife Maryam (Marall Nasiri) and their daughters Asal (Nicole Mehrbod) and Sahar (Diana Farzami). A wrestler in Iran before being forced to escape the country, he turns back to the sport in hopes of speeding up his asylum application by trying out for the Swedish national wrestling team, building toward the revelation that the real reason he was forced to leave Iran was that one of his former teammates outed him to the community as a closeted gay man, which carries the penalty of execution in the Islamic Republic of Iran.[2]

The cast also includes Björn Elgerd, Amirali Abanzad, Ahmed Abdullahi, Robin Ahlqvist, Leyla Aksoy, Anton Andersson, William Arvidsson, Helya Beikzadeh, Anton Carlsson, Ardalan Esmaili, Diana Farzami, Sevin Fidan, Anton Jalneskog, Jonatan Jednell, Tobias Johansson, Arvin Kananian and Max Karlsson.

It was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards,[3][4] but it was not nominated.

## Distribution

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An excerpt from the film was screened as a work in progress at the 2021 Les Arcs Film Festival, where it was the winner of the TitraFilm Award.[5]

The film premiered at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2023.[6] It was later screened at the 2023 Inside Out Film and Video Festival,[7] the Seattle International Film Festival,[8] and the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[9]

## Reception

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### Critical response

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Opponent has an approval rating of 94% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 16 reviews, and an average rating of 7.5/10.[10]

### Awards

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At Seattle, Nasiri received a Special Jury Prize for her performance.[8]

## See also

[edit]

* List of submissions to the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
* List of Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Guy Lodge, "‘Opponent’ Review: A Refugee Turns to Wrestling in a Sharp, Stressful Social Thriller". Variety, 11 March 2023.
2. ^ David Rooney, "‘Opponent’ (‘Motstandaren’) Review: Payman Maadi Brings Searing Intensity to Character Study of an Iranian Refugee in Sweden". The Hollywood Reporter, 25 February 2023.
3. ^ "European titles submitted for the Oscars race". Cineuropa. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
4. ^ "Milad Alami's Opponent is Sweden's Academy Award submission". Swedish Film Institute. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
5. ^ Elsa Keslassy, "Les Arcs’s Industry Village Awards ‘Opponent,’ ‘Silver Haze,’ ‘Marriage By Abduction’". Variety, 14 December 2021.
6. ^ Vladan Petkovic, "Review: Opponent". Cineuropa, 19 February 2023.
7. ^ Valerie Complex, "Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Announces Full Lineup For 33rd Annual Film Festival; Will Open With Ira Sachs’ Romantic Drama ‘Passages’". Deadline Hollywood, 5 May 2023.
8. ^ a b Chase Hutchinson, "A Full List of This Year’s SIFF Winners". The Stranger, 22 May 2023.
9. ^ Ben Dalton, "Karlovy Vary competition title ‘Opponent’ scores UK-Ireland distribution deal". Screen Daily, 3 July 2023.
10. ^ "Opponent | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.

## External links

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* Opponent at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

1956–1975|

* The Staffan Stolle Story (1956)
* The Seventh Seal (1957)
* The Magician (1958)
* No Award (1959)
* The Virgin Spring (1960)
* Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
* The Mistress (1962)
* The Silence (1963)
* Raven's End (1964)
* Dear John (1965)
* Persona (1966)
* Here Is Your Life (1967)
* Shame (1968)
* Ådalen 31 (1969)
* A Swedish Love Story (1970)
* The Emigrants (1971)
* The New Land (1972)
* No Award (1973)
* No Award (1974)
* No Award (1975)

1976–2000|

* City of My Dreams (1976)
* The Man on the Roof (1977)
* No Award (1978)
* A Respectable Life (1979)
* Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti (1980)
* Children's Island (1981)
* Flight of the Eagle (1982)
* Fanny and Alexander (1983)
* Åke and His World (1984)
* Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (1985)
* The Sacrifice (1986)
* Hip hip hurra! (1987)
* No Award (1988)
* The Women on the Roof (1989)
* Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg (1990)
* The Ox (1991)
* House of Angels (1992)
* The Slingshot (1993)
* The Last Dance (1994)
* All Things Fair (1995)
* Jerusalem (1996)
* Tic Tac (1997)
* Show Me Love (1998)
* Under the Sun (1999)
* Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

2001–present|

* Jalla! Jalla! (2001)
* Lilya 4-ever (2002)
* Evil (2003)
* As It Is in Heaven (2004)
* Zozo (2005)
* Falkenberg Farewell (2006)
* You, the Living (2007)
* Everlasting Moments (2008)
* Involuntary (2009)
* Simple Simon (2010)
* Beyond (2011)
* The Hypnotist (2012)
* Eat Sleep Die (2013)
* Force Majeure (2014)
* A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015)
* A Man Called Ove (2016)
* The Square (2017)
* Border (2018)
* And Then We Danced (2019)
* Charter (2020)
* Tigers (2021)
* Boy from Heaven (2022)
* Opponent (2023)
* The Last Journey (2024)

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