ABOUT SIMORGH - the Film
Simorgh is a 3D animated graduate thesis film by Meghdad Asadi Lari. It is a personal interpretation of The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar. A choreographic piece that incorporates Persian music, calligraphic art and ornament designs to tell the traditional Persian story of life that deals with the fragility of self worth.
It centers around a few birds of different breeds, each representative of a particular human characteristic; ego, greed, avarice, etc.
The birds are seemingly satisfied with their perceptions of self, but on a chance journey they each embark upon, they find they are stronger as a community and are strengthened by allowing others to complete their true ‘self’.
Simorgh has been widely embraced across the global film festival circuit where it has been honored with several international film and animation awards.
ABOUT DIRECTOR
Born in 1982 in Shiraz, Iran and currently living in Rochester, NY, award winning director, animator and Student Academy Awards nominee, Meghdad Asadi Lari started his higher education in 2000 by studying Electrical Engineering in Shiraz University and continued to a M.Sc. in Communications Engineering.
During his graduate studies, he discovered his passion for graphic design and animation. Not long after completing his technical degrees, Meghdad decided to step into the art field as a creative professional and pursue his true passion of animation and film.
Mehgdad started his MFA degree in Computer Animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and directed and produced several animated films which played at more than 100 festivals worldwide and gained several national and international awards. In 2014, he finished his MFA degree with faculty awards for his thesis film, Simorgh.
Meghdad’s artistic, creative and technical abilities have been recognized as adept and transformational across the international landscape both by academia and those within the animation industry.
Meghdad is Assistant Professor of Motion Picture Science at RIT’s School of Film and Animation and is currently involved with directing and producing a variety of animated short films and motion picture research activities. He is also connected to several educational and animation projects where he offers his technical and artistic skills to studios in the United Stated and around the globe.
ABOUT COMPOSER
Born in 1983, Saba Alizadeh is a performer/composer born in Tehran, Iran. Saba, a virtuoso on Kamancheh, is the son of the internationally acclaimed virtuoso Hossein Alizadeh. He started playing Kamancheh at the age of 10 under the supervision of Saeed Farajpouri and later on with Kayhan Kalhor.
Saba holds a BFA in photography from Azad University in Tehran. He has also achieved an MFA in music from the Herb Albert School of Music at the California Institute of the Arts. Saba has toured extensively throughout Europe, North America and Mexico performing on Kamancheh with different projects and ensembles such as Hamavayan, Nour and the Land trio (also a cofounder).
Alizadeh's musical career is divided in two separate paths. Performing and composing on the Kamancheh in Persian traditional form as well as collaborating with other musical traditions (such as Indian and Mexican and early European music ) in such ensembles as Nour and the Land trio.
Saba also composes in the experimental tradition. These electroacoustic compositions mostly deal with everyday social political issues. He also brings a theatrical element to them which makes them a unique art form.
Saba is also an internationally acclaimed photographer. His latest series "Light & Soil" has been exhibited in such cities as Tehran, Moscow, Paris, Kuwait and etc. alongside acclaimed artists such as Shirin Neshat.