Reza Naji

About Reza Naji

Reza Naji, born Mohammad Reza Amir Naji in Tabriz in 1942, is one of the most recognisable faces of Iranian cinema, even though he came to film late in life.

Naji loved theatre from childhood and performed in street plays as a young man. He first worked as a mechanic and later joined the Iranian Air Force, and he kept acting on stage throughout his service. His first film role came in Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven (1997). Majidi was looking for an actor with an Azeri accent to play Ali's father, and Naji was chosen from around 2,500 actors who auditioned.

International recognition

Naji continued to work with Majidi, notably in Baran and The Song of Sparrows. The Song of Sparrows won him the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in 2008, making him the first Iranian actor to receive that award. The same role brought him Best Actor at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and at the Damascus Film Festival. Tabriz later honoured him by naming a cinema hall after him.

Reza Naji on Pardeh

His Pardeh titles are mostly warm comedies and family dramas. Projectionist (Aparatchi) follows a house painter who dreams of making his first feature film, while Newcastle, Sly, The Redtails and The Crab are comedies. Aroosi-ye Cinderella and Par Sefid are social dramas, and the series The Sorcerer is a family comedy.

Biographical facts: Wikidata.

Shared cast credits

People credited in the same titles on Pardeh:

• حمید گودرزی · 2 shared titles
• Javad Razavian · 2 shared titles
• آزاده صمدی · 1 shared title
• احمد مهرانفر · 1 shared title
• الهام فراشاه · 1 shared title
• الهام کردا · 1 shared title