Hamo Beknazarian also known as Hamo Bek Nazarov or Amo Bek-Nazarian, was an Armenian and Soviet film director.

Biography

Hamo Beknazarian was born on May 19, 1891 in Yerevan

Yerevan

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...

, the capital of Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

. His career in cinema started in 1914, when a casual acquaintance offered him a part in a film. Since that part, he decided to pursue a career in cinema. Between 1914 and 1918, he played about 70 parts, becoming a popular actor in pre-Revolutionary Russian film. In 1920, instead of going to Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

 as he had decided, he went to Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 where he developed a film department for the Georgian Commissioner's office of Public Education. He shot many films in Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, including "The Father Murderer" and "Lost Treasures." In 1925, he shot his first Armenian film

Cinema of Armenia

The cinema of Armenia was born on April 16, 1923, when the Armenian State Committee on Cinema was established by the government decree.In March 1924, the first Armenian film studio: Armenfilm was established in Yerevan, starting with Soviet Armenia the first Armenian documentary film.Namus was...

 and moved to Armenia. In 1933, he shot the first Armenian sound film "Pepo." In 1941, Beknazarian was awarded the Stalin Prize.
Besides feature films he also shot few documentaries.

Hamo Beknazarian died on April 27, 1965 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, USSR.

Filmography

• 1922: The Suram Fortress
  The Suram Fortress (film)
  The Suram Fortress is a 1922 Soviet Georgian film directed by Ivan Perestiani, based on Daniel Chonkadze's novel with the same title.-Cast:* Hamo Beknazarian - Durmishkhani* Mikheil Chiaureli - Osman Aga* Shalva Dadiani - Count Tsereteli...
  
  , actor
• 1923: Patricide, director
• 1925: The Case of Tariel Mklavadze's Murder, director
• 1926: Natela, director
• 1926: Shor and Shorshor, scriptwriter, director
• 1943: David-Bek, co-scriptwriter, director
• 1935: Pepo
  Pepo (film)
  Pepo is an Armenian film directed by Hamo Beknazarian which is based on Gabriel Sundukyan's 1876 play of the same name. Pepo was the first Armenian sound film ever created...
  
  , director
• 1938: Zangezur
  Zangezur (1938 film)
  Zangezur is a 1938 Soviet Armenian film by Hamo Beknazarian about Dashnak opposition to the incursion of the Red Army and the local Bolshevik partisans in the Armenian province of Zangezur at the time of Sovietization. The film featured Hrachia Nersisyan, Avet Avetisyan, and Hasmik Agopyan....
  
  , director
• 1947: Anahit, director

External links