Babak Payami (Persian: بابک پیامی, born 1966) is an Iranian-Canadian film director, writer and producer.
Biography
Born in Tehran, Iran, Payami grew up in Afghanistan 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 a 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. Iranian officials eventually arrested Payami 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. With help from fellow Italian filmmakers, Payami released a reconstructed version of the film in the official Venice International Film Festival program.
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 the 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 and EOne 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, released internationally in 2016.
In 2010 Payami established Payam Entertainment due to 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 bestseller by renowned Canadian author Linden MacIntyre. Payam has written the screenplay (of the same title), and the film was slated to start pre-production in late 2020.
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