APSA for Best Performance by an Actress

Hiam Abbass for ‘Etz Halimon’ (Lemon Tree)
Israel/France/Germany

Following their successful collaboration in The Syrian Bride, Eran Riklis chose Hiam for the leading role of Salma Zidane in Lemon Tree. Born in Nazareth, Hiam started out in various theatre roles in Israel until she moved to London in 1988 and then to Paris where her film career began.  Her credits include: The Syrian Bride, Satin Rouge, La Porte du Soleil, Munich, Disengagement, Free Zone, Paradise Now, The Nativity Story, Dialogue avec mon Jardinier, Un Roman Policier, La fabrique des Sentiments, and The Visitor. Hiam lives in Paris with her husband and two daughters.

“She is a very beautiful Arabic woman, like many of them, having a natural quality of beauty not only in appearance but also with inner charm.  The most special thing about this movie is that the actress treats this very ordinary woman, a farmer, a lemon tree grower, whose family has been lemon tree growers for generations, with low in social status, low in blood lineage and may be also low in education, as having a kind of inner nobility that cannot be deprived of or looked down upon.  Her inner highness or nobleness, as well as dignity as a human being, have perfectly combined through the actress’s performance, with her contrasting low social status.  This has created a shocking inner strength and power on the screen, which shows that even such a high rank officer as the Minister of Defence does not dare to bully her, to hold her in contempt or to look at her straight in the eyes so easily.  This level of performance and her abilities are not to be easily matched by any other actresses.”  - Professor Zheng Dongtian (Jury Member)

“In terms of the actress’s performance, it was beautifully understated, her relationship with her attorney. I think she took it really even beyond what the screenplay had achieved and just opened up the character and the conflicts of political reform and cultural clash to a place where I felt she just had completely mastered that character.  In many ways it was like some of the great acting performances of all time where the actor becomes the character and you're just completely unaware that any acting is going on whatsoever and it was just masterfully done by her.” - Richard Rothschild (Jury Member)

“An outstanding and compelling performance.  Again she invests the character with so much dignity, courage and vulnerability all at the same time.” - Aparna Sen (Jury Member)

“She was amazing.  I think that she really delivered the subtle kind of emotions not totally upfront and I thought she did a superb.” - Hanna Lee (Jury Member)

“The role is played with a tremendous amount of refinement and she avoids any tendency towards melodrama and she has that great thing that great actor’s have, of conveying an enormous amount of emotion, and you can actually feel it.  It kind of radiates from the screen without any perceptible change of expression and I think that her involvement in the role is so total that she gives it an intensity and a depth just through, I think the spirituality that she has, the feeling within her.” - Bruce Beresford (Jury President)