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Ziad H Hamzeh (born 22 January 1959) is a Syrian-American film director, writer and producer, as well as a theatre director and a college professor. Hamzeh has made Boston, Massachusetts his home after relocating from Los Angeles.He is of Druze origin, born in southern Syria. Hamzeh has earned numerous awards in the states and internationally. Hamzeh is a member of the Producers Guild of America.
Hamzeh is one of the producers of The Flower of Aleppo, which was selected as the official film representing Tunis at the 89th Academy Awards, though it did not make the list of nominees. He also produced the film Always Brando, which premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and won the best producers award from the Abu Dhabi film festival.His film Irrefutable Proof (2015) won the Golden Palm at the Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Biography
Hamzeh was born to Druze family, at Jabal ad-Duruz in Syria. He immigrated to the United States in 1979. Hamzeh completed his bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston in theatre arts .In 1984 he relocated to Los Angelesand enrolled in a master's program in writing and criticism at California State University, Los Angeles then went on to attain his MFA in directing at California State University, Fullerton.
After completing his studies, Hamzeh helped co-create two theatre companies in Los Angeles, the Open Fist Theatre Company and The Egyptian Arena, acting as the first artistic director of the Open Fist Theatre Company.
His films and stage works have garnered many international awards. He received more than forty festival accolades including twice winning the Golden Palm at the Beverly Hills Film Festival(not to be confused with the Palme d'Or, or "Golden Palm", at the Cannes Film Festival), for his films Woman in 2008 and Irrefutable Proof in 2016.
Hamzeh has also been teaching directing in the graduate and undergraduates programs at the Maine Media Workshops since 1995. He also teaches the directing program at Emerson College and the MFA program at Lesley College.