Mini biography

Writer | Director | Editor | Producer

Bahram Beizai ( ِDecember 26th, 1938, Teheran, Iran )

Bahram Beizai (Director, Producer, Screen-writer and Editor) was born in Tehran, Iran in 1938.

He was intorduced to the world of art when he was still very young.

In high school he wrote two historical plays which eventually became his prefered method of writing.

He then entered University of Tehran, but did not finish his studies due to lack of interest in the subject he was studying.

“There are filmmakers who think that film on its own is insufficient, they strive to surmount the film with meaning and messages that grant it a social respectability.

I do not suffer such guilt about the insuffiency of cinema, and I think that the on-screen subject precedes the importance of any underlying concept which might be credited.”

It was then that he started researching Iranian theatre and epic literature. At the age of 21 he did an extensive research on the "Book of Kings" (Shahname) and Ta'azie which is Iranian traditional plays.

He also studied the pre-islamic history and familiarized himself with persian painting.

The next ten years of his life were dedicated to writing in various publications about Eastern Art and Iranian theatre.

He also wrote a good number of articles about cinema which later became the subject of one of his books.

It is during this time that Bayzai wrote some of his masterpieces: "The Eight Voyage of Sinbad", "Banquet", "Serpant King", "Dolls", "Story of the Hidden Moon" and many more...

In 1968 he was one of the first ones to join the controversial Iranian Writer's Guild ( Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran ).

He started his film career with a successful short named "Uncle Mustache" (Amoo Sibiloo) in 1970.

Immidetly after that he directed and produced his masterpiece "Downpour" (Ragbaar) with the late Parviz Fannizadeh as its main character.

Since then he has produced and directed 8 other movies and has made significant contribution to the development of cinema and theatre in Iran.

Despite his popularity and knowledge, Bayzai has never been successful in gaining the support of the government, neither before nor after the revolution.

After close to 20 years, two of his films "Death of Yazdgerd" and "Ballad of Tara" have still not been able to recieve a screening permit.

Both movies have been shelved due to the fact that they are not in accordance with the Islamic code currently in use in Iranian motion picture industry.

"Bashu, the Little Stranger" was going to be his third film to be shelved..but it finally got a screening permit after the end of Iran-Iraq war. The movie is about a little boy who has lost his home and family to the war.

For the past seven year Bayzai has not made a movie. His last movie "The Travellers" was practically destroyed after censors cut out about 30 minutes of the movie.

He is breaking his silence after seven years with a group work called "Stories of Kish" which consists of seven episodes and is scheduled to participate in the 17th Fajr Film Festival this winter.

Director - Selected filmography

1. When We ARE All Sleeping | Vaghti hame khaabim (2009)
   
2. Killing Mad Dogs | Sagkoshi (2001)
   
3. Dialogue with the wind | Goft-o-goo ba baad (1998)
   
4. Day of Incident | Rooze Vaghe'e (1995)
   
5. Travelers | Mosaferan (1992)
   
6. Bashu, The little stranger | Bashu, gharibeye koochak (1989)
   
7. Maybe Some Other Time | Shayad Vaghti Deegar (1988)
   
8. Death of Yazdgerd | Marge Yazdgerd (1981)
   
9. Ballad of Tara | Tcherike-ye Tara (1979)
   
10. The Raven | Kalagh (1976)
    
11. Stranger and the Fog | Gharibe va Meh (1974)
    
12. The Journey | Safar (1972)
    
13. Downpour | Ragbar (1971)
    
14. Uncle Mustache | Amoo Sibilou (Short, 1969)