Some actors take a while to capture your attention; others grab you by the eyes the moment you first encounter them. Kurdish-British actor Deba Hekmat falls into the second category. Her debut, a supporting role in Luna Carmoon’s Hoard (2024), was electrifying – there’s a semi-feral, unfettered physicality to her performance that chimes perfectly with Carmoon’s maverick vision.
In Sasha Nathwani’s Berlin film festival prize-winning Last Swim, Hekmat gets the starring role of Ziba, a high-achieving A-level student whose carefully planned day of celebration with her friends is clouded by an ominous diagnosis and a question mark over the future. Sunny, soulful, if a little montage-heavy at times, this is a more conventional film. Hekmat’s magnetic star quality, though, is unmistakable: she’s a free and fascinating presence.
In UK and Irish cinemas
