Scene from Welcome to Iceland (2016)

Alternate Names: مریم زارع

Physical Characteristics:

• Eye Color: black
• Hair Color: black hair

First Appearances:

• Mein Vogel fliegt schneller (2009) as Marie

Most Important Roles:

• Unter Feinden (2013) as
• Abgebrannt (2011) as Pelin
• Not a Word (2024) as Barban
• Engel sucht Liebe (2009) as Gülcen
• I Am Not Him (2013) as Ayşe / Asiye
• Willkommen bei Habib (2014) as Semra
• Leif in Concert Vol. 2 (2020) as
• Skin Deep (2023) as Fabienne
• Faith (2010) as Maryam
• Marry Me! (2015) as Kissy

Career Highlights:

• Unter Feinden (2013)
• Abgebrannt (2011)
• Not a Word (2024)
• Engel sucht Liebe (2009)
• I Am Not Him (2013)
• Willkommen bei Habib (2014)
• Leif in Concert Vol. 2 (2020)
• Skin Deep (2023)
• Faith (2010)
• Marry Me! (2015)

Awards:

• Won Adolf Grimme Award - Fiction (2018)
• Nominated for 1 Studio Hamburg Newcomer Award - Best Film (2017)
• Won The Exberliner Film Award - The Exberliner Film Award (2017)
• Won Fairness Award - Diversity (2020)
• Nominated for 1 DSP Award - Best Supporting Actress (Beste Nebendarstellerin) (2019)
• Won Best Leading Role Performance (2010)
• Nominated for 1 Golden Panda Award - Best Actress in a Supporting Role for a Television Series (2023)

Maryam Zaree is a renowned German actress, filmmaker, and writer, born in 1983 inside the notorious Evin political prison in Tehran, Iran. Her mother fled with her to Germany when Maryam was two years old to escape political persecution, and she grew up in Frankfurt. Zaree studied acting at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf and has since established a successful career in film, television, and theatre.

Known for her compelling performances, Zaree has appeared in numerous acclaimed productions, including the films Shahada, System Crasher, and Undine, as well as the television series Tatort and Doppelhaushälfte. She gained significant recognition and won a Grimme Award in 2018 for her role as Kalila in the award-winning series 4 Blocks.

Zaree is also an accomplished playwright, winning the Author's Prize at the Heidelberger Stückemarkt for her debut play Kluge Gefühle. In 2019, she made her debut as a director with the deeply personal documentary film Born in Evin, in which she explores the circumstances of her birth in prison and her family's history of silence surrounding the events. The documentary premiered at the Berlinale and later won the German Film Award for Best Documentary in 2020. Through her diverse work, Zaree uses her art to explore themes of identity, migration, and political history.