Huseyn Seyidzadeh
Encyclopedia
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
) was an Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
i film director.
Life and career
Huseyn Seyidzadeh was born to a family of a merchant in the city of Erivan (then part of the Russian EmpireRussian 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...
, now the capital of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
). He fled the city with his family in 1918 and settled first in Tiflis, and then in Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
. In 1936 Seyidzadeh graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov), VGIK for short, is a film school in Moscow, Russia.-History:...
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...
having been taught by prominent Soviet film directors such as Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
, Mikhail Romm
Mikhail Romm
Mikhail Ilych Romm was a Soviet film director.He was born in Irkutsk. His father was a social democrat of Jewish descent who had been exiled there. He graduated from gymnasium in 1917 and entered the Moscow College for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture...
and Lev Kulidzhanov
Lev Kulidzhanov
Lev Aleksandrovich Kulidzhanov was a Soviet film director and screenwriter...
. He later worked at Lenfilm
Lenfilm
Kinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios,...
. Seyidzadeh directed his first film in 1943, with Leyla Badirbeyli
Leyla Badirbeyli
Leyla Aghalar gizi Badirbeyli and Leyla Badirbeyova – Leyla Aghalar gizi Badirbeyli and Leyla Badirbeyova – Leyla Aghalar gizi Badirbeyli and Leyla Badirbeyova – (after marriage – Javanshirova; ; (1920-1999), Soviet and Azerbaijani actress of theatre and cinema, People's Artist of the Azerbaijan...
in the leading role. This propaganda film entitled Ayna reflected on the themes of patriotism and heroism and was dedicated to the ongoing World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 1956, Seyidzadeh directed one of the most famous and successful cinematographic pieces in the history of Azerbaijani movie industry. The film O olmasin, bu olsun ("If Not This One, Then That One"), based on the 1910 operetta by Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Uzeyir bey Abdul Hussein oglu Hajibeyov was an Azerbaijani and Soviet composer, conductor, publicist, playwright, teacher, translator, and social figure from Azerbaijan. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music and opera...
and set in the Imperial Russia, criticized backward traditions and celebrated emerging modern lifestyles. The movie was translated into many languages and within the next 3 years was shown in over 40 countries.
In Azerbaijan, Huseyn Seyidzadeh is renowned for creating popular films such as Dali Kur ("The Mad Kura", 1969), Gayinana ("Mother-in-law", 1978), etc.
External links
- Photo Essay: Mashadi Ibad. Seyidzadeh's If Not This One, Then That One. Azerbaijan International. Autumn 1997 (5.3)