Bahram Beyzaie: Speech At The Arash Award 2017/ سخنرانی بهرام بیضایی در مراسم اهدای تندیس آرش ۲۰۱۷

At every Tirgan, we pay tribute to an outstanding figure, who has had a tremendous impact on the Iranian culture. This year’s recognition is dedicated to Bahram Beyzaie for his contributions to Iranian art and literature.

Bahram Beyzaie is a well - known Iranian critic, researcher, teacher, playwright, stage director and producer, screenwriter and filmmaker. He first introduced to western audiences at the age of 25 when his play staged at "the Festival du Theatre des Nations in Paris," 1963. After years of substantial creative work, he became Professor and Chair of the Dramatic Arts Department at Tehran University until the Islamic revolution. He was a leader of the generation of filmmakers known as the Iranian New Wave, starting in the late 1960s, and has since directed more than a dozen prize-winning films.

Beyzai has authored over 70 books in Persian, including plays and screenplays, histories and research works, as well as interviews and stories.Beyzaie’s literary heritage, from his parents, is reflected not only in his prose writings, his plays, and films but also in his style and critical outlook. Besides his monograms in volumes on Iranian, Japanese and Chinese theatres and also a book on Hitchcock movies; he has done extensive research on the roots of "One Thousand and One Nights" resulting in two monograms. Seeking "the Roots of the Old Tree" followed by another about the missing ancient book of "Hezar Afsan" [One Thousand and One Nights in its Arabic translation].

In the past five decades, Beyzaie has published more than 35 plays, some of which are translated and published in English, French, German and Portuguese and also more than 50 screenplays. Despite many obstacles imposed on his life and career he has directed seven of his plays on the stage himself and in his style in Tehran. Amongst these, the film version of Death of Yazdgerd is available as an example of his artistic expression and historical and cultural view. Furthermore, he has made ten feature and four short films which are: Short films: Mustachioed Uncle; The Journey; Talking with the Wind; The Speaking Carpet. Feature films: "Downpour"; "The Stranger and the Fog"; "The Crow"; "The Ballad of Tara"; "Death of Yazdgerd"; "Bashu", "The Little Stranger"; "Maybe Some Other Time"; "The Travelers"; "Killing Rabids"; "While We Are All Asleep".

His theatre works are all -except for one-, directed by himself and include: "The Puppets", "Heritage and The Feast", "King Snake", "Death of Yazdgerd", "Lady Aoi" (by Mishima Yukio), "Testament of Bondar Bidakhsh", "The 1001st Night", "The Passion Play of Mentor Navid Makan and His Wife Archeologist Rokhshid Farzin", and "Afra" or the Day Passes. In The last four years, he has directed a shadow play called "Jana & Baladoor" and also "Arash," "The 1001st Night" and "Ardaviraf’s Report," and "Tarabnameh" all presented by the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University.

Harbourfront Centre 2017
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Tirgan Festival 2017
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