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Bahram Beyzai
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<h2 id="early-years">Early years</h2> <p>Beyzai was born in <a href="/facts/Tehran/S8dmdwyG">Tehran</a>, to a poet, <a href="/facts/Anthologist/AjRSwF91">anthologist</a> and biographer father and a housewife mother. His father made a living through a legal occupation and could reasonably attend to his literary interests. </p><p>Bahram Beizai started skipping school from around the age of 17 in order to go to movies which were becoming popular in Iran at a rapid pace. This only fed his hunger to learn more about cinema and the <a href="/facts/Visual_arts/95RgxP8e">visual arts</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <p>The young Bahram did not seem very interested in his family legacy, poetry, which was pursued by his father, uncles and cousins. In high school, the <a href="/facts/Dar_ul-Funun_(Persia)/aCCgghtP">Dar'ol-Fonoun</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> he wrote two historical plays which went on to become his preferred method of writing. </p><p>At the age of 21, he did substantial research on the traditional Persian plays, particularly <a href="/facts/Ta%27zieh/TgJbm2bx">Ta'zieh</a>, and by 1961 he had already spent a great deal of time studying and researching other ancient <a href="/facts/Persians/4GhM3jl2">Persian</a> and pre-<a href="/facts/Islamic/zDLbL45C">Islamic</a> culture and literature. This, in turn, led him to study Eastern theatre and traditional Iranian theatre and arts, which would help him formulate a new non-Western identity for Iranian theatre. He also became acquainted with Persian painting. </p> <h2 id="career">Career</h2> <h3>Playwriting in the 1960s</h3> <p>In 1968, Beyzai was one of the nine founders of the Iranian Writers' Guild, a highly controversial organization in the face of <a href="/facts/Censorship/gwTgKVuv">censorship</a>. In 1969, he was invited to teach at the Theater Department of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran. He chaired this department from 1972 to 1979. With his readership, many prominent authors and artists started teaching at the department and created the most fruitful period in the history of that department. </p> <p>Beyzaie's groundbreaking <i><a href="/facts/A_Study_on_Iranian_Theatre/QG2TC4KV">A Study on Iranian Theatre</a></i> (Namayesh dar Iran), published in mid-1960s is still considered the most important text on the history of Iranian theater. Beyzaie is also the first scholar in Iran to publish books on <a href="/facts/Theatre_of_Japan/RjB6EN7g">theatre of Japan</a> and <a href="/facts/Theatre_of_China/8ulgNmLE">theatre of China</a>. </p> <p>Some of his plays, such as his masterpiece <i><a href="/facts/Death_of_Yazdgerd/mQ3SqTnz">Death of Yazdgerd</a></i>, have been translated into numerous languages and performed worldwide. <i><a href="/facts/Death_of_Yazdgerd/mQ3SqTnz">Death of Yazdgerd</a></i> has been performed in Iran, France, England, India and the USA, among other countries, and was made into a <a href="/facts/Death_of_Yazdgerd_(film)/Ptroxkk4">film of the same name</a> by Beyzai in 1981. <i>Death of Yazdgerd</i> and <i><a href="/facts/Kalat_Claimed/VxkXJBDG">Kalat Claimed</a></i> have been translated into English by <a href="/facts/Manuchehr_Anvar/JVDx7y7F">Manuchehr Anvar</a>. </p> <h3>the 1970s and the outset of a cinematic career</h3> <p>In 1969, he began his film career by directing the short film <i>Amu Sibilou</i> (<i>Uncle Moustache</i>) followed by "Safar" in 1970. With these films, Beyzai is often considered to be a pioneer of the <a href="/facts/Iranian_New_Wave/Wge8vCMK">Iranian New Wave</a>, a <a href="/facts/Cinema_of_Iran/l0zXtdgx">Persian cinema</a> movement that was started in the late 1960s. </p><p>Immediately after, in 1971, he made his first feature film <i>Ragbar</i> (<a href="/facts/Downpour_(film)/EVzQbVda"><i>Downpour</i></a>) which critics regard to this day as one of the most successful Iranian films ever made. The successful film addresses the late <a href="/facts/Parviz_Fannizadeh/6hpNXuCt">Parviz Fannizadeh</a> as its central character and protagonist. </p><p>Since then he has produced and directed 8 films including <i>Qaribe va Meh (Stranger and the Fog)</i> (1974), <i><a href="/facts/Ballad_of_Tara/jyIPtQVS">Cherike-ye Tara</a> (Ballad of Tara)</i> (1979), <i><a href="/facts/Bashu,_the_Little_Stranger/SeV7anf2">Bashu, the Little Stranger</a></i> (1986, released in 1989), <i>Shāyad Vaghti digar (Maybe Another Time)</i> (1988) and <i>Mosaferan (Travellers)</i> (1992). </p> <h3>Filmmaking in the 1980s</h3> <p>In 1981, the revolutionary leaders started the <a href="/facts/Iranian_Cultural_Revolution/Gwjvzfok">Iranian Cultural Revolution</a>, as a result of which Beyzaie, among many others, was expelled from the university. He continued writing and making films, though. His screenplay <i>Ruz-e Vaqe'e</i> (<i><a href="/facts/The_Fateful_Day_(1995_film)/dsz97E9Q">The Fateful Day</a></i>) was adapted into a film in 1995 and another screenplay was adapted into a film named <i>Fasl-e Panjom</i> (The fifth season) in 1996, while he also made four of his finest films. He also edited <a href="/facts/Ebrahim_Hatamikia/d73wPKjD">Ebrahim Hatamikia</a>'s <i>Borj-e Minu (Minoo Tower)</i>. </p> <h3>1990–present</h3> <p>He married the actress and make-up artist Mozhdeh Shamsai in 1992. After <i>Mosaferan</i>, he failed to get a permit to produce several screenplays. In 1995, he left Iran for <a href="/facts/Strasbourg/MTdQtoPy">Strasbourg</a> at the invitation of the <a href="/facts/International_Cities_of_Refuge_Network/jU7pHMGy">International Parliament of Writers</a>. Soon however, he returned and staged <i><a href="/facts/The_Lady_Aoi_(Bahram_Beyzai_production)/yMyxYQpl">The Lady Aoi</a></i> in Tehran. </p><p>In 2001, he made his best-selling film <i><a href="/facts/Killing_Mad_Dogs/w2ULVXhD">Killing Mad Dogs</a></i>, after which he managed to stage three plays before he left Iran for the United States. </p><p>He left Iran in 2010 at the invitation of <a href="/facts/Stanford_University/JEQeF9z2">Stanford University</a>, and has since been the Daryabari Visiting Professor of Iranian Studies, teaching courses in Persian theatre, cinema and mythology. He has given workshops on the <i><a href="/facts/Shahnameh/34GaVlKn">Shahnameh</a></i>, the history of Iranian performing arts, Iranian and Semitic myths, etc. He has also staged several plays, including his nine-hour <i><a href="/facts/Tarabnameh/MfVrRTUq">Tarabnameh</a></i>. </p> <h2 id="cinematic-style">Cinematic style</h2> <p>He is known as the most intellectual and conspicuous "author" in <a href="/facts/Iranian_cinema/l0zXtdgx">Iranian cinema</a> and theater. The main theme of his works is the <a href="/facts/History/bSKgXaCA">history</a> and "crisis of identity," which is related to Iranian cultural and mythical symbols and paradigms. He is considered Iran's most prominent screenwriter in terms of the dramatic integrity of his works, many of which have been made into films. </p> <h2 id="reception-and-criticism">Reception and criticism</h2> <p>Critics have often praised Beyzai above all Persian filmmakers as well as playwrights. He was voted the best Persian filmmaker in 2002, and his <i><a href="/facts/Bashu,_the_Little_Stranger/SeV7anf2">Bashu, the Little Stranger</a></i> was voted the finest Persian film ever. All the same, his formalism has occasionally raised criticism, even from himself. <a href="/facts/Ebrahim_Golestan/6EUyAGvD">Ebrahim Golestan</a>, who had previously objected to Beyzai's style, praised him in a letter in 2017. </p> <h2 id="works">Works</h2> <h3>Filmography (as director)</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Bahram_Beyzai_filmography/1RbjwAU7">Bahram Beyzai filmography</a></p> <ul><li><i>Amū Sibilū</i> (1969 - short)</li> <li><i>Safar</i> (1970 - short - a.k.a. <i>The Journey</i>)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Downpour_(film)/EVzQbVda">Ragbār</a></i> (1972 - a.k.a. <i><a href="/facts/Downpour_(film)/EVzQbVda">Downpour</a></i>)</li> <li><i>Qaribé va Meh</i> (1974 - a.k.a. <a href="/facts/The_Stranger_and_the_Fog/BQGLNvkb"><i>The</i> <i>Stranger and the Fog</i></a>)</li> <li><i>Kalāq</i> (1976 - a.k.a. <i>The Crow</i> or <i>The Raven</i> )</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Ballad_of_Tara/jyIPtQVS">Charike-ye Tārā</a></i> (1979 - a.k.a. <i>Ballad of Tara</i>)</li> <li><i>Marg-e Yazdgerd</i> (1982 - a.k.a. <i><a href="/facts/Death_of_Yazdgerd/mQ3SqTnz">Death of Yazdgerd</a></i>)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Bashu,_the_Little_Stranger/SeV7anf2">Bashu, the Little Stranger</a></i> (1986 - a.k.a. <i>Bashu</i> - released 1989)</li> <li><i>Shāyad Vaghti Digar</i> (1988 - a.k.a. <i>Maybe Some Other Time</i>)</li> <li><i>Mosāferan</i> (1992 - a.k.a. <i>Travellers</i>)</li> <li><i>Goft-o-gū bā Bād</i> (1998 - short - a.k.a. <i>Talking with the Wind</i>)</li> <li><i>Sagkoshi</i> (2001 - a.k.a. <i><a href="/facts/Killing_Mad_Dogs/w2ULVXhD">Killing Mad Dogs</a></i>)</li> <li><i>Qāli-ye Sokhangū</i> (2006 - short - <i>The Talking Carpet</i>)</li> <li><i>Vaqti Hame Khāb-im</i> (2009 - <i>When We are All Asleep</i>)</li></ul> <h3>Plays</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Bahram_Beyzai_bibliography/dP3r2CMo">Bahram Beyzai bibliography</a></p> <p>Beyzaie has over 50 published plays, some of which are as follows. These works have occasionally appeared in French, English, German and other translations. </p> <ul><li>"Gorob dar Diari Garib" (<i>Evening in a Strange Land</i>, translation into English by Gisele Kapuscinski)</li> <li>"Chahar Sandoogh" (<i>Four Boxes</i>, translation into English by <a href="/facts/M.R._Ghanoonparvar/cojYPD7e">M.R. Ghanoonparvar</a> and John Green)</li> <li>"Hashtomin Safar e Sandbad" (<i><a href="/facts/Sindbad%27s_Eighth_Voyage/RsEs5sRJ">Sindbad's Eighth Voyage</a></i>; <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=703xAAAACAAJ"><i>Le Huitième voyage de Sindbad</i></a>, translation into French by <a href="/facts/Ahmad_Kamyabi_Mask/7rCGeJSx">Ahmad Kamyabi Mask</a> <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9782950480613)</li> <li><i>Ziāfat va Mirās</i> (1967 - a.k.a. <i>Heritage and The Feast</i>)</li> <li><i>Soltān-Mār [fa]</i> (1969 - a.k.a. <i>The King Snake</i>)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Death_of_Yazdgerd/mQ3SqTnz">Marg-e Yazdgerd</a></i> (1979 - a.k.a. <i>Death of Yazdgerd</i>)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Memoirs_of_the_Actor_in_a_Supporting_Role/FV3mRG3g">Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role</a></i> (1981)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Kalat_Claimed/VxkXJBDG">Kalat Claimed</a></i> (1982)</li> <li><i>Kārnāme-ye Bandār Bidakhsh</i> (1997 and 1998)</li> <li><i>Bānū Aoi</i> (<i><a href="/facts/The_Lady_Aoi_(Bahram_Beyzai_production)/yMyxYQpl">The Lady Aoi (Bahram Beyzai production)</a></i> (1997 and 1998) based on <i><a href="/facts/The_Lady_Aoi/Imu9InFf">The Lady Aoi</a></i> by <a href="/facts/Yukio_Mishima/qsfzoCR1">Yukio Mishima</a>)</li> <li><i>Shab-e Hezār-o-yekom</i> (The One Thousand and First Night) (2003)</li> <li><i>Afrā yā Ruz migozarad</i> (2007 - a.k.a. <i>Afra, or the Day Passes</i>)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Crossroads_(play)/5naKQQGy">Crossroads</a></i> (2009)</li> <li><i>Jana and Baladoor</i> (2012 - <i>A Play in Shadows</i>)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Arash/f8H8wqUG">Arash</a></i> (2013 - <i>A Play Reading</i>)</li> <li><i>Ardaviraf's Report</i> (2015)</li> <li><i><a href="/facts/Tarabnameh/MfVrRTUq">Tarabnameh</a></i> (2016 - <i>Part one and Part two</i>)</li></ul> <h3>Speeches and lectures</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/List_of_speeches_given_by_Bahram_Beyzai/0XP8IANG">List of speeches given by Bahram Beyzai</a></p> <h2 id="frequent-collaborators">Frequent collaborators</h2> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/List_of_film_director_and_actor_collaborations/NC32b5fz">List of film director and actor collaborations</a></p> <h3>Lisar troupe</h3> <p>During the making of <i><a href="/facts/Ballad_of_Tara/jyIPtQVS">Ballad of Tara</a></i> in 1978, Beyzai and his crew in <a href="/facts/Lisar_Castle/6qJeSbYu">Lisar Castle</a> started a troupe whose name remained in use until the 2000s: Lisar troupe. </p> <h2 id="awards-and-honors">Awards and honors</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Bahram_Beyzai/uVA1EwWn">List of awards and nominations received by Bahram Beyzai</a></p> <p>The prizes, awards and honors he has won are numerous. </p> <ul><li>2017, D.Litt. <i>honoris causa</i>, <a href="/facts/University_of_St_Andrews/IwXjmljw">University of St Andrews</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li> <li>2014: Bita Prize for Persian Arts]</li> <li>2012 Farhang Foundation Heritage Award</li></ul> <h3>Additional sources</h3> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Hamid_Dabashi/WmClMgr1">Dabashi, Hamid</a> (2007). <i>Masters & Masterpieces of Iranian Cinema</i>. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-934211-85-7.</li> <li>Hasani, Farzad (May 2018). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200412134852/http://www.tajrobehmag.com/">"شکسپیر ایران در بلاد امریکا"</a> [The Shakespeare of Persia in the New World]. <i>Tajrobeh</i> (in Persian). <a href="/facts/Tehran/S8dmdwyG">Tehran</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.tajrobehmag.com/">the original</a> on 12 April 2020.</li> <li>Talajooy, Saeed (2023). <i>Iranian Culture in Bahram Beyzaie's Cinema and Theatre: Paradigms of Being and Belonging (1959-1979)</i>. London and New York: Bloomsbury Publishing (I.B. Tauris). ISBN 9780755648665.</li> <li>Yar-Shater, Ehsan (1984). "The Modern Literary Idiom". In Ricks, Thomas M. (ed.). <i>Critical Perspectives on Modern Persian Literature</i>. Three Continents Press. pp. 42–62. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-914478-95-8.</li> <li>Pak-Shiraz, Nacim (2013). Exploring the City in the Cinema of Bahram Beyzaie. <i>Iranian Studies</i>, <i>46</i>(5), 811–828. https://doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2013.789745</li> <li>Pak-Shiraz, Nacim (2018) Constructing Masculinities Through <i>Javanmards</i> in Pre-revolutionary Iranian Cinema, in <i>Javanmardi: The Ethics and Practice of Persianate Perfection</i>, ed. Lloyd Ridgeon, 297–318. British Institute of Persian Studies Series. (London: Gingko Library).</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.bahrambeyzaie.com/">Official website</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0067323/">Bahram Beyzai</a> at <a href="/facts/IMDb_(identifier)/uWrqVYVy">IMDb</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.iranchamber.com/cinema/bbeyzai/bahram_beyzai.php">Bahram Bayzai's biography on Iran Chamber Society (www.iranchamber.com)</a></li> <li><i>Speaking with Bahram Bayzai; [Afrā], Day Passes By</i>, in Persian, BBC Persian, Sunday 6 January 2008, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/arts/story/2008/01/080105_la-ek-beizaee.shtml">[7]</a>.</li> <li><i>A short talk with Bahram Bayzai, the celebrated director of film and theatre</i>, in Persian, Deutsche Welle, Wednesday 26 December 2007: <a href="http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3023108,00.html">(Main page)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080101135254/http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,3023091_type_audio_struct_10005,00.html?mytitle=%25D8%25A8%25D8%25B4%25D9%2586%25D9%2588%25DB%258C%25D8%25AF%253A%2B%25DA%25AF%25D9%2581%25D8%25AA%25E2%2580%258C%25D9%2588%25DA%25AF%25D9%2588%2B%25D8%25A8%25D8%25A7%2B%25D8%25A8%25D9%2587%25D8%25B1%25D8%25A7%25D9%2585%2B%25D8%25A8%25DB%258C%25D8%25B6%25D8%25A7%25DB%258C%25DB%258C">(Audio recording of interview — 4 min 9 sec)</a>.</li> <li>Najmeh Khalili Mahani, <i>Bahram Baizai, Iranian Cinema, Feminism, Art Cinema</i>, Off Screen, 31 January 2003, <a href="http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/baizai.html">[8]</a>.</li> <li>Ebrahim Barzegar, <a href="http://thesevenbeauties.ir/seljuk-station-by-bahram-beyzai/">Seljuk Station by Bahram Beyzai</a></li> <li>Ebrahim Barzegar, <a href="http://thesevenbeauties.ir/senmar-sacrificing-session-by-bahram-beyzai/">Senmar Sacrificing Session by Bahram Beyzai</a></li></ul> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bahram Bayzai. <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Two thousand verse lines by Zokā'i Beyzāie, of a total of six thousand, were published in 1978 (1357 AH) in a book entitled Yad-e Bayzā (The White Hand); Bayzā in Persian is the literary word for White. See Arash Fanā'iān, Gofteman-e Iran, 20 January 2008. [1][permanent dead link]. <a href="/wiki/Iranian_calendar" target="_blank">/wiki/Iranian_calendar</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Arash Fanā'iān, Gofteman-e Iran, 20 January 2008. [2][permanent dead link]. It is noteworthy that Adib Ali Beyzāie's son, Hossein Beyzāie, is also a poet; his literary pseudonym is Partow (Ray of Light). <a href="http://www.goftman-iran.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=922&Itemid=11" target="_blank">http://www.goftman-iran.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=922&Itemid=11</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Arash Fanā'iān, Gofteman-e Iran, 20 January 2008. [3][permanent dead link]. <a href="http://www.goftman-iran.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=922&Itemid=11" target="_blank">http://www.goftman-iran.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=922&Itemid=11</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Picture World (Donyaye Tassvir), No. 74, November 1999, ISSN 1023-2613 <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Hasani 2018. - Hasani, Farzad (May 2018). "شکسپیر ایران در بلاد امریکا" [The Shakespeare of Persia in the New World]. Tajrobeh (in Persian). Tehran. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200412134852/http://www.tajrobehmag.com/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20200412134852/http://www.tajrobehmag.com/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Abbas Milani's speech, Toronto, 2017. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Ca6jwXasY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Ca6jwXasY</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Bahram Beyzaie - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 15 June 2024. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0067323/bio/" target="_blank">https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0067323/bio/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>For an illustrated report on Dar'ol-Fonoun see: Hamid-Reza Hosseini, Dar'ol-Fonoun in want of Love ("Dar'ol-Fonoun dar hasrat-e eshq"), in Persian, Jadid Online, 22 September 2008, [4]. The pertinent photographs (15) can be viewed here: [5]. The following is the photograph of what used to be the amphitheatre of Dar'ol-Fonoun: [6]. <a href="http://www.jadidonline.com/stry/22092008/frnk/darolfonoon" target="_blank">http://www.jadidonline.com/stry/22092008/frnk/darolfonoon</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role (2010 edition) | Open Library". <a href="https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15120341W/Memoirs_of_the_actor_in_a_supporting_role" target="_blank">https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15120341W/Memoirs_of_the_actor_in_a_supporting_role</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2017/title,1283540,en.php[permanent dead link] <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2017/title,1283540,en.php" target="_blank">https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2017/title,1283540,en.php</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>