The Legend of Gilgamesh, Bahram Beyzaei, Nov 10, 2013
Bahram Beyzaie is one of Iran’s most acclaimed filmmakers, playwrights, and scholars of the history of Iranian theater, both secular and religious. He was a leader of the generation of filmmakers known as the Iranian New Wave, beginning in the late 1960s, and has since directed more than a dozen prize-winning films. He has also conducted pioneering research into the roots of ancient legends derived from Indo-Iranian mythology and known collectively as A Thousand and One Nights. He is that rare artist who is also an erudite critic and scholar of his myriad crafts.
Born in Tehran, Beyzaie was for many years the head of the Theatre Arts Department at Tehran University. His two volume study of the history of Iranian theatre is still considered the authoritative account of this history. Since his arrival at Stanford as the Bita Daryabari Lecturer of Persian Studies, he has staged several of his plays and given workshops on Iranian mythology and cinema. He currently teaches courses on Iranian theatre and cinema.