Zal Batmanglij (

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: زال باتمانقلیچ; born on April 28, 1981) is an American film director and screenwriter. He directed and co-wrote the 2011 film ''

Sound of My Voice ''Sound of My Voice'' is a 2011 American psychological thriller film directed by Zal Batmanglij in his feature directorial debut and starring Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius and Brit Marling. The plot focuses on two documentary filmmakers wh ...

'' and the 2013 film '' The East'', both of which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, as well as the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

The OA ''The OA'' is an American mystery drama television series with science fiction, supernatural, and fantasy elements. ''The OA'' debuted on Netflix on December 16, 2016. Created and executive produced by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the serie ...

'', which debuted in 2016.

Early life and education

Batmanglij was born in 1981 in France to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian parents and grew up in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

His mother,

Najmieh Batmanglij Najmieh Khalili Batmanglij ( fa, نجمیه خلیلی باتمانقلیج, ) is an Iranian-American chef and cookbook author. Born in Tehran, she fled the Iranian Revolution in 1979, moving first to France, then the United States, building ...

, is a cookbook author; his father is a book publisher. His younger brother

Rostam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a w ...

was a founding member of the band

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...

. Both brothers are gay. Batmanglij studied anthropology and English at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, graduating in 2002. At Georgetown he met Mike Cahill in a philosophy class. They took a screenwriting course together and co-directed a short film that won the Georgetown Film Festival. Brit Marling saw the film and asked if she could work with them. Several years later, following Marling's graduation, the three friends moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where Batmanglij attended the

AFI Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private not-for-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on st ...

. For his thesis film, he made a 35mm short called ''The Recordist'' (2007), which starred Marling.

Career

In 2011, Batmanglij's debut feature, ''Sound of My Voice'', co-written with Marling, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Shortly thereafter,

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Stu ...

purchased ''Sound of My Voice'', as well as Batmanglij and Marling's next feature script, ''The East''. Batmanglij also directed ''The East'', starring Marling,

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Elliot Page, various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, tw ...

, and

Alexander Skarsgård Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. Born in Stockholm, he began acting at age seven but quit at 13. After serving in the Swedish military, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in th ...

. The film premiered at Sundance in 2013. Batmanglij and Marling collaborated to create drama series ''

'', which debuted in 2016 on

. It was written by Marling and Batmanglij, who produced the series along with

Dede Gardner Dorcas Wright "Dede" Gardner (born October 16, 1967) is an American film producer and the president of Plan B Entertainment. She is a two-time Oscar winner for '' 12 Years a Slave'' and ''Moonlight'', the first woman to win two Oscars for Best P ...

and

Jeremy Kleiner Jeremy Kleiner (born 1976/1977) is an American film producer. He and his fellow producers won two Academy Awards for Best Picture for the 2013 film ''12 Years a Slave'' and the 2016 film '' Moonlight''. Biography Kleiner was born to a Jewish f ...

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

, and

Michael Sugar Michael Sugar is an American film and television producer and principal at Sugar23, best known for producing ''Spotlight'', ''13 Reasons Why'', '' Maniac'' and ''The Knick''. Life and career Sugar attended the Armand Hammer United World Coll ...

of Anonymous Content.

Filmography

Film

*''The Recordist'' (2007) – short film – writer, director *''

'' (2011) – feature directorial debut – co-writer, director *'' The East'' (2013) – co-writer, director

Television

*''

Wayward Pines ''Wayward Pines'' is an American mystery science fiction television series based on the ''Wayward Pines'' novels by Blake Crouch. Developed for television by Chad Hodge, the pilot was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, with both as executive prod ...

'', episodes "Our Town, Our Law", "One of Our Senior Realtors Has Chosen to Retire" (2015) – director *''

'' (2016–2019) – writer, director *''Retreat'' – writer, director

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Batmanglij, Zal American male screenwriters American writers of Iranian descent LGBT people from Washington, D.C. American gay writers LGBT film producers LGBT screenwriters LGBT film directors LGBT television directors Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni AFI Conservatory alumni LGBT American people of Asian descent Film directors from Washington, D.C. Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. Living people 1981 births French emigrants to the United States