Reza Naji
Birthday: 1942-12-26
Place of Birth: Tabriz, Iran
Synopsis
Reza Naji is an Iranian actor and an iconic figure of Iranian cinema.
Naji started his career in theater when he was a teenager. While serving in the Iranian army, he continued to perform in different roles. His first role in a film goes back to 1997 in Children of Heaven, which proved to be a breakthrough. For playing the role of Ali's father, director Majid Majidi was seeking an actor with an Azeri accent, and Naji was carefully selected from a group of 2,500 actors tested for the role. Since then, he has played several roles in Iranian films. Among his most notable performances is his appearance in "The Song of Sparrows", directed by renowned film director Majid Majidi, for which Naji won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, and Best Performance by an Actor at the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
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Acting
Bench Cinema
as Prison Guard
Nasi spends months after release from prison, watching the films and memorizes all the lines. He then travels around to perform the films as a one man show on a bench. Gradually he forms a theatre group called Cinema Bench...
The Song of Sparrows
as Karim
When an ostrich-rancher focuses on replacing his daughter's hearing aid, which breaks right before crucial exams, everything changes for a struggling rural family in Iran. Karim motorbikes into a world alien to him - incredibly hectic Tehran, where sudden opportunities for independence, thrill and challenge him. But his honor and honesty, plus traditional authority over his inventive clan, are tested, as he stumbles among vast cultural and economic gaps between his village nestled in the desert, and a throbbing international metropolis.
The Willow Tree
as Morteza
Youssef, a blind university professor, is suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease and must undergo treatment in France. Back home, will he find the life he had before?
Baran
as Memar
On a building site in present-day Tehran, Lateef, a 17-year-old Turkish worker is irresistibly drawn to Rahmat, a young Afghan worker. The revelation of Rahmat's secret changes both their lives.
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Children of Heaven
as Ali's Father
Zohre's shoes are gone; her older brother Ali lost them. They are poor, there are no shoes for Zohre until they come up with an idea: they will share one pair of shoes. School awaits.
