Iranian filmmaker, playwright, screenwriter, and stage director. A popular and critically acclaimed filmmaker in Iran and abroad, he is widely recognized as a pioneering figure of the Iranian New Wave. His notable films include Ragbār (Downpour; 1971), Bāshū, gharībah–yi kūchak (Bashu, the Little Stranger; 1986), Marg-i Yazdgird (Death of Yazdgird; 1981), and Sag kushī (Killing Mad Dogs; 2001). He was one of the founder members of the Iranian Writers’ Association from its establishment in 1968 to 1978. In the 1970s, he taught at the University of Tehran as a visiting professor. After the Islamic Revolution, following years of teaching experience in the Department of Dramatic Arts, he was suspended from the university in 1981. Between 1985 and 1987, in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War, his family left Iran. He remarried in 1992 and, at the invitation of the European Parliament, left for Strasbourg, France. After a year, he returned to Iran and continued working for the theatre. He started his cinematic career by shooting a short black-and-white film, ʽAmū Sībīlū (Uncle Moustache), in 1969. The films he made between 1978 and 1981 are still banned by the Iranian government. In the years before and after the Revolution, he faced many difficulties making his films. He has made nine feature films and four short films so far. Bayzāyi is one of the few Iranian artists who has a brilliant record both in the theatre and in cinema. His films are known for their symbolism and employment of mythical imagery from Iranian culture, which give his works a unique blend of theatre, literature, and poetry. In addition to his cinematic career, he has made notable contributions to Iranian dramatic art through his publications on the history of Iranian theatre, widely considered as authoritative accounts of the history of Iranian theatre. In the 1940s, he also published a number of books about theatre in China and Japan, which are still considered as textbooks for theatre students in Iran. Above all, he is a master playwright with more than fifty published plays. His familiarity with and mastery of the Persian language and literature has turned his plays and screenplays into outstanding literary works, among which such masterpieces as Marg-i Yazdgird (Death of Yazdgird; 1979), Fathnamah–’i Kalāt (1982) and the Tūmar–i shaikh–i Sharzīn (1986) can be mentioned. In 2010, Bayzāyi went to the United States at the invitation of Stanford University. His sojourn in the United States was Bayzāyi’s longest stay away from Iran. He has been active in the United States and, in addition to teaching, has written and directed on numerous occasions. At Stanford, he has staged several of his plays, including Jānā and Balādur (2012), Ārash (2013), Ardāvīrāf’s Report (2015), Tarabnāmah (2016), and Crossroads (2018).