Parsa Pirouzfar
Parsa Pirouzfar is an Iranian actor, theatre director, painter, playwright, and translator. He is best known for his role in In the Eyes of the Wind, and Mum's Guest. He has received various accolades, including a Hafez Award and an Iran Cinema Celebration Award, in addition to a nomination for a Crystal Simorgh.
Early life and education
Parsa Pirouzfar was born Tehran, Iran.From 1984 to 1990, when he was in high school, he created his first comic strips.
Having graduated from high school with maths and physics majors in 1990, he started his academic studies in painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran in 1991. In the same year, he also started acting on stage in different university plays.
Pirouzfar also worked as a voice-over actor from 1993 to 1997. His first film role came at the age of 22 in 1994, playing a brief part in Dariush Mehrjui's Pari. In the same year, he studied “Stanislavsky's acting method” under acting instructor Mahin Oskouei, the Iranian theater director and instructor, and Iran's pioneering female theatre arts figure.
In 1995, he continued his studies in acting at Samandarian Institute of Dramatic Arts under renowned Iranian film and theatre director, translator, and acting instructor Hamid Samandarian. His stage debut was in the same year. He performed in Les Misérables directed by Behrouz Gharibpour, Iranian theatre director and pioneer of traditional Persian puppet theatre, and played as Marius Pontmercy.
Having graduated with a bachelor's degree from Tehran University's Faculty of Fine Arts in painting in 1997, he performed in The Lady Aoi by Yukio Mishima, directed by Bahram Beyzaie, playing the role of Hikaru. This was his second official appearance on the stage of the theatre.
Career
Pirouzfar officially started working on his own personal projects for the stage in 2001, and he made his directional debut in theatre with Art, a play by Yasmina Reza.''Matryoshka''
In 2015 Pirouzfar directed the play Matryoshka, a Persian-language satire based on selected short stories of Anton Chekhov, translated, written, and directed by Parsa Pirouzfar. Matryoshka premiered on 13 September 2015 at Theatre West, as a solo performance, in Los Angeles. The play has over 30 characters all performed by Pirouzfar in its theatrical production. Matryoshka subsequently ran for two years in the US cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Berkeley as well as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal in Canada in 2015 and 2016; and finally, after multiple performances due to its immense popularity, finished its staging in Tehran in 2017.Matryoshka was particularly important to Pirouzfar's career. His performance, playing over 30 characters of the play all by himself, earned him the Golden Statue Award for Best Actor in the 35th Celebration of the annual Fajr International Theatre Festival in Tehran in 2017.
Teaching
Pirouzfar gave acting courses as a theatre instructor at Karnameh Institute of Arts and Culture from 2004 to 2005 as well as in extracurricular acting classes at Allameh Tabatabaie University in 2004 and 2005 and at Hilaj Film School in 2007, 2010, and 2011.Other teaching work includes:
- Freelance Workshops and Acting Classes
- Extracurricular Acting Classes of Allameh Tabatabaie University, 2004–2005
- Karnameh Institute of Arts and Culture, 2004–2005
Other work
Since graduation from high school, Pirouzfar has also been involved periodically in sculpture, graphic design, and making teasers.Other activities and memberships
Pirouzfar is a founder member of Iranian Theatre Actors Association, member of Khaneh Cinema, member of Iranian Film Actors Association, and The Theatre Forum.Other memberships include:
- Iranian Theatre Actors Association, founder member
- Khaneh Cinema
- Iranian Film Actors Association
- Iranian Theatre Actors Association
- Theatre Forum
- 9th Iranian Film Festival Australia, 2020
- 14th Celebration of Khaneh Cinema, 2010
- 10th Celebration of Khaneh Cinema, 2001
- 9th Celebration of Khaneh Cinema, 2000