Babak Payami

Babak Payami
بابک پیامی
Born
Tehran, Iran
OccupationsFilm director, writer, producer

Babak Payami (Persian: بابک پیامی; born 1966) is an Iranian-Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. He won the Silver Lion for Best Director, at the 2001 Venice Film Festival for Secret Ballot. His films also include One More Day, Silence Between Two Thoughts, Iqbal: A Tale of a Fearless Child, Manhattan Undying and the documentary 752 Is Not a Number.

Biography

Payami was born in Tehran in 1966 and spent part of his childhood in Afghanistan. He later moved to Canada and became a Canadian citizen. In the early 1990s, he studied cinema at the University of Toronto.

Payami returned to Iran in 1998 and made his first feature film, One More Day. The film was presented in the Panorama programme of the 2000 Berlin International Film Festival. It received the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 2000 Tokyo International Film Festival and a Jury Special Award at the Torino Film Festival.

His second feature, Secret Ballot, premiered in competition at the 2001 Venice Film Festival. Payami received the Special Director's Award for the film. Secret Ballot also received the NETPAC, OCIC, Pasinetti and UNICEF awards at Venice, as well as recognition at the London, Valladolid, Rotterdam and Newport film festivals.

In 2002, Payami began filming Silence Between Two Thoughts in eastern Iran. During post-production, Iranian authorities arrested him without filing charges and confiscated the film's original negative and sound materials. A version of the film was reconstructed from salvaged digital material and screened at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. Payami left Iran in the summer of 2003 and continued his work in Europe and Canada.

Payami later taught directing at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany, and conducted filmmaking workshops in Europe and Canada. From late 2007 until January 2010, he served as creative director of the Media Studio at Fabrica, the communications research centre established by Benetton. During the 2010s, he served as artistic director and later senior artistic advisor to Toronto's Tirgan Festival.

In 2015, Payami co-directed the French-Italian animated feature Iqbal: A Tale of a Fearless Child with Michel Fuzellier. He subsequently directed and co-produced the Canadian feature Manhattan Undying, released in 2016.

Payami directed, wrote and produced the 2022 documentary 752 Is Not a Number, which follows Hamed Esmaeilion's pursuit of justice after his wife and daughter were killed in the destruction of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and was second runner-up for the festival's People's Choice Documentary Award.

Payami continues to work as a filmmaker and producer in Canada.

Filmography

Year Title Role
1993 A Stone Audience Director
1996 Vernissage Director
1999 One More Day Director, writer and producer
2001 Secret Ballot Director, writer and producer
2003 Silence Between Two Thoughts Director, writer and producer
2015 Iqbal: A Tale of a Fearless Child Co-director and co-writer
2016 Manhattan Undying Director and producer
2022 752 Is Not a Number Director, writer and producer

Awards and honors

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Raye Makhfi". Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts, La Biennale di Venezia. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Yek Rouz Bishtar". Torino Film Festival. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  3. ↑ Walsh, David (September 24, 2003). "Interview with Babak Payami, director of Silence Between Two Thoughts". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Material zur Pressekonferenz am Dienstag, 29. Januar" (PDF). Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  5. ↑ "13th Tokyo International Film Festival, 2000". Tokyo International Film Festival. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Secret Ballot press book" (PDF). Sony Pictures Classics. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Il voto è segreto". Filmitalia. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  8. ↑ French, Philip (June 13, 2004). "Silence Between Two Thoughts". The Guardian. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Rodier, Melanie (September 4, 2003). "Italy's Istituto Luce takes Payami's Silence". Screen Daily. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  10. ↑ "CineLink Industry Days Project Book 2018" (PDF). Sarajevo Film Festival. 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Tirgan Family". Tirgan Festival. 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Tirgan Nowruz 2020 Sponsorship Package" (PDF). Tirgan Festival. 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Iqbal, a Tale of a Fearless Child". IMDb. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  14. ↑ "MIA 2015 Industry Guide" (PDF). MIA Market. 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Manhattan Undying". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  16. ↑ Somerville, Hannah (September 9, 2022). "New Documentary Honors PS752 Families' Lonely Quest for Justice". IranWire. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Toronto International Film Festival announces 2022 award winners". Toronto International Film Festival. September 18, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  18. ↑ "13th Tokyo International Film Festival, 2000". Tokyo International Film Festival. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  19. ↑ "45th BFI London Film Festival". International Federation of Film Critics. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Babak Payami". International Federation of Film Critics. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Toronto International Film Festival announces 2022 award winners". Toronto International Film Festival. September 18, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2026.