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 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.
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