Babak Payami
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Babak Payami ( fa, بابک پیامی , born 1966) is an Iranian-Canadian film director, writer and producer.


Biography

Born in
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, Iran, Payami grew up in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and Iran before leaving for Europe and subsequently Canada, where he became a Canadian citizen. He enrolled in the cinema studies program at the University of Toronto in the early 90s while working as translator and court interpreter. In 1998 he returned to Iran where he wrote, produced and directed his debut feature film ''One More Day'', which premiered in the official Panorama Special program of the Berlin International Film Festival 2000. He later wrote, directed and co-produced with Marco Mueller, his second feature film, ''Secret Ballot'', which competed in the official program of the Venice International Film Festival in 2001. It earned him several accolades in Venice, including the Best Director award. In 2002 Payami began production on ''Silence Between Two Thoughts'', which he wrote, directed and produced in the remote areas of eastern Iran close to the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was completed after a difficult 73-day shoot. Payami was eventually arrested by Iranian officials during its editing. All original negative and sound material for ''Silence Between Two Thoughts'' was confiscated by the Iranian government, and Payami was forced into exile during the summer of 2003. A working copy of the film was salvaged on a hard disk, and with help from fellow Italian filmmakers, Payami released a reconstructed version of the film in the official program of the Venice International Film festival. In 2003, he was a member of the jury at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival. Since his exile, Payami has taught at the Ludwigsburg Film Academy in Germany, and conducted numerous workshops in Italy and North America while developing his English-language film projects. In late 2007 and until January 2010, he was the creative director of the Media Studio at Fabrica, a United Colors of Benetton Communication Arts research Centre in Northern Italy, where he produced several projects including ''I Am Jesus'', directed by Valerie Gudenus and Heloisa Sartorato; and ''Branding Kosovo'', directed by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. In 2006, Payami reestablished Payam Films Inc. in Toronto with his partner Charles Wachsberg, and began development of several projects, including an original story he wrote on Caravaggio, titled "Chiaroscuro"; his adaptation of a Chingiz Aitmatov book, "The Eternal Day"; and "Mina" and "Assassiyun", which he co-wrote with Toronto writer Ian Carpenter. In 2017 Babak Payami directed ''Manhattan Undying'', a Canadian feature film with American stars Luke Grimes and Sarah Roemer and Canadian veteran actors Daniel Kash and Earl Pastko. It was released by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
and
EOne Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...
in Europe and North America. Payami also co-wrote and, with Michele Fuzellier, co-directed a French-Italian animated feature film, ''The Story of a Fearless Child'', that was released internationally in 2016. In 2010 Payami established Payam Entertainment as a result of his recent collaborations with Iranian musician, composer and performer Mohsen Namjoo. Payami produced several concerts for Namjoo at the Los Angeles Disney Hall, Toronto Sony Centre and the Milan Conservatory; and Namjoo's albums "OY" in 2009 (a Fabrica Production), "Useless Kisses" in 2010 (A Payam Ent. Inc. Production), "Alaki" in 2011 (A Payam Ent. Inc. Production) and "OY Live in Milan DVD" (A Fabrica/Payam Ent. Inc. co-production). Since 2012, Payami has been the artistic advisor to Canada's Tirgan Festival, the largest Iranian festival outside of Iran. in 2018, Payam Films optioned the motion picture rights to '' The Bishop's Man'', a Canadian best seller by renowned Canadian author
Linden MacIntyre Linden Joseph MacIntyre (born May 29, 1943) is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist. He has won ten Gemini Awards, an International Emmy and numerous other awards for writing and journalistic excellence, including the 2009 Scotiabank ...
. Payam has written the screenplay (of the same title), and the film was slated to start pre-production in late 2020.


Filmography

* ''One More Day'' (1999) * ''
Secret Ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...
'' (2001) * ''Silence between Two Thoughts'' (2003) * ''Iqbal, l'enfant qui n'avait pas peur'' (2015) * ''Manhattan Undying'' (2016) * '' 752 Is Not a Number'' (2022)


Awards and honors

* Best Artistic Contribution,
Tokyo Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...
, 2000 * Special Jury Award (One More Day), Torino Film Festival, 2000 * Best Director,
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
, 2001 * OCIC Award (Secret Ballot), Venice, 2001 * Pasinetti Award (Secret Ballot), Venice, 2001 * UNICEF Award (Secret Ballot), Venice, 2001 * NETPAC Award (Secret Ballot), Venice, 2001 * Best Director, Valladolid Film Festival, 2001 * FIPRESCI Prize, Special Mention,
London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
, 2001 * Best Feature (Secret Ballot), Newport Film Festival, 2002 * FIPRESCI Prize, Tromsø Film Festival, 2003


See also

*
Iranian cinema The Cinema of Iran (Persian: سینمای ایران), also known as the Cinema of Persia, refers to the cinema and film industries in Iran which produce a variety of commercial films annually. Iranian art films have garnered international fame a ...


References


External links

*
Babak Payami's official web-site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payami, Babak Iranian film directors Iranian expatriates in Canada Canadian people of Iranian descent People from Tehran 1966 births Living people Venice Best Director Silver Lion winners Asian-Canadian filmmakers Canadian documentary film directors