Ziad Hamzeh
| Ziad Hamzeh | |
|---|---|
 Ziad Hamzeh, 2007 | |
| Born |
22 January 1959 Damascus, Syria |
| Occupation | Film director, producer, screenwriter |
| Website | |
| http://www.hamzehmystiquefilms.com/ | |
Ziad H Hamzeh (born 22 January 1959) is a Syrian-American film-maker. writer, producer and director. Ziad has made Boston, Massachusetts his home after relocating from Los Angeles. He is of Druze origin. Ziad is the producer of "Always Brando" with Marlon Brando. "Always Brando" is a story of innocence lost, of love abandoned and of dreams shattered as a young Tunisian look alike to Marlon Brando on a quest to reach the impossible dream in making it big in Hollywood.” The film premiered at 2011 Toronto Film Festival and winning Best Producer award at Abu Dhabi Film Festival as well as best director at Alexandria Film Festival.
Biography
Hamzeh was born at Jabal ad-Duruz in Syria. He immigrated to the United States in 1979. After completing his studies, (BA in Theatre Arts from UMASS Boston, MA in writing and criticism from CSULA, and an MFA in Directing from CSUF), Hamzeh created two theatre companies in Los Angeles. As the artistic director of the Open Fist Theatre Company, he established a haven for artists.
His films and stage works have garnered many international awards. He received more than forty festival accolades including the Golden Palm for his film Woman at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. In Los Angeles, Mr Hamzeh created two theatres:The Open Fist Theatre Company and The Egyptian Arena. Hamzeh brought to the LA theatre community many prestigious international names such as Fernando Arrabal, Antonin Artaud, Beckett, Brecht, Churchill, Gretzky, and Federico García Lorca. He directed and or produced over sixty major award winning stage productions, among them Roxy Ventola’s After The Bomb, Brecht’s Baal, Sam Shepard’s True West, Arrabel’s Car Cemetery, Hamlet, Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carre, Nicholas Kazan’s Blood Moon, Poor Murderer, The Architect and Empress of Assyria, Cinders, Low Level Panic, and Dusa, Fish, Stas, and Vi.
Ziad has also been teaching directing in the graduate and undergraduates programs at the Maine Media Workshops since 1995.
Film career
As a director, Hamzeh has had many noteworthy films such as The Letter: An American Town and the 'Somali Invasion'. The story that was dubbed as the Somali Invasion of the USA by the media outlets. This controversial film about the influx of Muslim Somali immigrants to the USA in a post 9/11 world garnered powerful reviews and won numerous awards such as the BIFF Indie Spirit for Best Feature Documentary; it was honored as the opening film of the 2004 Amnesty International Film Festival. Other works include: Shadow Glories about down-and-out, middle-aged man, once contender for the world heavyweight kickboxing title, struggles to rebuild his shattered life as he makes his way back home to his lost love and his one last chance at resurrecting his tortured soul. Along the way, his newfound morals and ethics are put to the ultimate test when he agrees to train a fiery young martial artist to take on his archrival, the blood lusting, up-and-coming heavyweight kickboxing champion of the world. Woman featuring Bouthaina Shaaban is a feature-length film based on the writings, lectures, and life of Nobel Prize nominee, activist Bouthaina Shaaban as she fearlessly ignites awareness while advancing the cause of rights for Arab women - from securing formal acknowledgments throughout the Arab world that women should be afforded basic human rights, to waging an international battle defending the integrity of the real Arab female, all accomplished with the firm hand of diplomacy and the power of her pen. "Henry O!" the inspiring story of Henry Oliu, a man blind since birth, who has overcome all the odds and made his major league baseball dream come true. Calling upon his love for sports and an encyclopedic memory for facts and figures, Henry hears the crack of the bat and knows if it's a single, double, or home run; he listens for the ball singing into the catcher's mitt and knows if it's a curve ball, fastball, or change-up. Henry is the color analyst on Mega Classica 820 radio, WMGG, the strongest Hispanic station in Florida's Tampa Bay Market. And at his side in the broadcast booth above Tropicana Field, whispering in his ear up-to-the-minute stats and field action only the eyes can see, is the love of his life, his wife Deb. "Bleacher Boys", "Eternal Embrace", and Sisters.
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