Bahram Bayzai was born in Tehran in 1938. A survivor from the vanguard of the Iranian cinema in the 60's, he is well recognized as a selfmade artist active in literature, theatre and cinema.
He was introduced to the world of art when he was still very young. In high school he wrote two historical plays which eventually became his preferred method of writing. He gained his first filmmaking experiences through making 8 mm. movies. He then entered the University of Tehran, but did not finish his studies due to lack of interest in the subject he was studying. 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 familiarised 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, Serpent King, Dolls, Story of the Hidden Moon and many more. Three of his puppet plays were staged in Tehran in 1962, followed by the much-lauded play Champion Akbar Dies which was one of the best theatre pieces ever written in Iran. In 1968 he was one of the first ones to join the controversial Iranian Writer's Guild (Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran).
Bayzai started his film career with a successful short fiction film named Amoo Sibiloo / Uncle Mustache in 1970. Immediately after that he directed and produced his masterpiece Ragbar / Downpour (1971), based on his own screenplay, with the late Parviz Fannizadeh starring. This and his following films, Gharibe va Meh / The Stranger and the Fog (1973), which was based on a totally unprecedented script in the tradition of Iranian cinema, and Kalaagh / The Crow (1977), earned him festival prizes at home and abroad. Bayzai has made significant contribution to the development of cinema and theatre in Iran.
Despite his popularity and knowledge, he has never been successful in gaining the support of the government, neither before nor after the revolution. After more than 20 years, his first two postrevolutionary films, Cherikeye Tara / The Ballad of Tara or Tara, a Female Guerilla (1978, unreleased) and Marge Yazdgerd / The Deach of Yazdgerd (1980, unreleased), have still not been able to receive 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, Gharibeh Kouchak / Bashu, the Little Stranger (1986, released in 1989), was going to be his third film to be shelved, but it finally got a permit after the end of Iran-Iraq war. He made Shayad Vaghdi Digar / Maybe Some Other Time in 1988. His next film Mosaferan / Travelers (1992) was practically destroyed after censors cut about 30 minutes out of it.
Following that act, Bayzai has not made a movie for many years. During this period he wrote screenplays for Ruz-e vagh'e / Day of the Incident directed by Shahram Assadi and Fasle Panjom / Fifth Season (1996) directed by Rafı Pim, and edited Borje Minoo / Minoo Tower (1996), a film by Ebrahim Hacami. Bayzai broke his silence after seven years with a group work called Gofcegoo Ba Baad / Stories of Kish (1999) which consists of seven episodes. The last feature film he directed is Sagkoshi / Killing Mad Dogs (2001). Of all the Iranian directors, Bahram Bayzai is probably the most accessible to Western viewers. A master of narrative storytelling -he is considered one of lran's best screenwriters- Bayzai is particularly sensitive in portraying the problems of women. His troubles with the authorities have been enormous. Bayzai established himself on the festival scene in early 1970's with The Downfall, Stranger and the Fog and The Crow. His first two films made after the revolution were too controversial to be released in Iran. The Ballad of Tara (1978), screened at Cannes, looks at the place of women in Iranian history. The Deach of Yazdgerd (1980), from his own play about a vanquished king, simply puzzled the censors.
