Faramarz Gharibian Bids Farewell to Acting with Exodus

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – Faramarz Gharibian, the 78-year-old star of such acclaimed movies The Deer and Beautiful City, bowed out on Friday from his 50-year acting career, saying that he has done his final performance in the Iranian cinema with director Ebrahim Hatamikia’s peasant protest movie Exodus.

He announced his retirement during a press conference after the premiere of the film during the 38th Fajr Film Festival at Mellat Cineplex. 

“I believe this film is the highlight of my acting career. I’ve read lots of screenplays during the past seven years but I didn’t like any of them. I was waiting for something valuable to end my career with,” said Gharibian. 

“I knew playing this role would be very difficult, but as it was the role of a protester and I’ve been playing protesters’ characters since the beginning of my career in movies like Masud Kimiai’s ‘The Deer’,” he added. 

“I’ve become weary of the negative attitude of Iranian cinema officials, therefore I announce that ‘Exodus’ is my final film,” he concluded. 

Hatamikia also noted that he was very satisfied with Qaribian’s performance in the film. 

“I’ve never seen such a literate and disciplined actor in my life, I bow down before him,” he stated. 

Gharibian started his career with filmmaker Masud Kimiai’s “Come Stranger” in 1968. Some of his credits are “The Messenger” by Fariborz Saleh, “Tall Shadows of the Wind” by Bahman Farmanara, “Dancing in the Dust” by Asghar Farhadi and “Rubble” by Sirus Alvand.

He tried his hand at filmmaking with “The Law” in 1995, “Her Eyes” in 1999 and “The Sinners” in 2012.

He won the best actor awards in various editions of the Fajr Film Festival for “Train” in 1987 and “Misty Harbor” in 1992, both by Amir Qavidel, and “The Rain Man” by Abolhassan Davudi in 1999.

Source: Tehran Times