Atiqah Hasiholan (born 3 January 1982) is an Indonesian actress. She is best known for starring in the Academy Award submitted film Jamila dan Sang Presiden (Jamila and the President; 2009).

Biography

Hasiholan was born on 3 January 1982 to Achmad Fahmy Alhady, an Arab-Indonesian businessman, and Ratna Sarumpaet, a Batak playwright. She has three elder siblings: Mohammad Iqbal Alhady, Fathom Saulina, and Ibrahim Alhady. As a child she wanted to be a lawyer.

Hasiholan attended Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where she studied media and psychology. On her summer holiday, she acted in her mother's theatre troup, Satu Merah Putih Panggung; her enjoyment of the activity convinced her to become an actress. She made her feature film debut in Nia Dinata's 2006 film Berbagi Suami (Love for Share). She then played in several further films, including Suster N (Nurse N; 2007), Cinta Setaman (Love Potpurri; 2008) – in which she played a prostitute – and Pintu Terlarang (Forbidden Door; 2009).

In 2009, Hasiholan starred in her mother's film Jamila dan Sang Presiden (Jamila and the President), in which she played a prostitute named Jamila who is convicted and eventually executed for killing a government minister. Initially Hasiholan viewed her character as a "regular slutty prostitute", but after thinking of the character more thoroughly and interviewing real-life sex workers, she considered Jamila a "victim of life". The film was submitted to the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but not nominated.

After Jamila, Hasiholan starred in Ruma Maida (Maida's House), directed by Teddy Soeriaatmadja. In the film she played a young university student who studies history through a house in Jakarta; Hasiholan said the film "boosted [her] sense of nationalism". She played a prostitute for the third time 2010's Darah Garuda (Blood of the Garuda), a minor role. For the role she also handled a gun, which she described as "so damn heavy". That same year she played in the sex comedy Mafia Insyaf (Repentant Mafia).

Hasiholan appeared in 2011 as the main character's mother in The Mirror Never Lies, directed by Kamila Andini. The film, about a Bajau family in Wakatobi, was intended to raise awareness about marine conservation. In June 2011, the short film "Payung Merah" ("Red Umbrella"), in which Atiqah played a woman with a red umbrella and love issues, won Best Asian Short Film at the ScreenSingapore festival. Later in 2011 she appeared in Arisan! 2, a sequel to the 2003 film Arisan!.