Samuel Khachikian
Encyclopedia
Samuel Khachikian was an Iranian
film director
, screenwriter
, author
, and film editor of Armenian
descent. He was one of the most influential figures in Iran's movie industry and was nicknamed "Iran's Hitchcock".
Born 1923 in Tabriz to a family of Armenian immigrants, Samuel Khachikian published his first poem “The Prison” in the Alik newspaper when he was nine. Five years later, he gave his first stage performance in Tabriz in a play titled “Seville”. He completed his education in History and Journalism, and wrote eight plays which went on stage not only in different cities of Iran, but also in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Greece.
Khachikian made his first film in 1953, titled “The Return”. He was among the first and few directors who used the decoupage technique on the film set, preparing the complete shooting script in advance. The success of his works attracted a lot of attention to the advantages of this filmmaking approach. As an innovative filmmaker, he turned the production of murder mysteries into a popular new wave in the Iranian filmmaking. He made the first ever movie trailer in the history of Iranian cinema for the movie “A Girl from Shiraz” in 1954. Some of his films such as “The Strike” and “The Eagles” were box office hits of their times. Samuel's son Edwin Khachikian is currently a director in Tehran, Iran. Samuel's brother Souren Khachikian was also heavily involved in the production of his films. Souren's grandson Ara H. Keshishian http://arakeshishian.com/ is currently working as a film editor in Hollywood.
His 1956 film A Party in Hell
was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival
.
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and film editor of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
descent. He was one of the most influential figures in Iran's movie industry and was nicknamed "Iran's Hitchcock".
Born 1923 in Tabriz to a family of Armenian immigrants, Samuel Khachikian published his first poem “The Prison” in the Alik newspaper when he was nine. Five years later, he gave his first stage performance in Tabriz in a play titled “Seville”. He completed his education in History and Journalism, and wrote eight plays which went on stage not only in different cities of Iran, but also in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Greece.
Khachikian made his first film in 1953, titled “The Return”. He was among the first and few directors who used the decoupage technique on the film set, preparing the complete shooting script in advance. The success of his works attracted a lot of attention to the advantages of this filmmaking approach. As an innovative filmmaker, he turned the production of murder mysteries into a popular new wave in the Iranian filmmaking. He made the first ever movie trailer in the history of Iranian cinema for the movie “A Girl from Shiraz” in 1954. Some of his films such as “The Strike” and “The Eagles” were box office hits of their times. Samuel's son Edwin Khachikian is currently a director in Tehran, Iran. Samuel's brother Souren Khachikian was also heavily involved in the production of his films. Souren's grandson Ara H. Keshishian http://arakeshishian.com/ is currently working as a film editor in Hollywood.
His 1956 film A Party in Hell
A Party in Hell
A Party in Hell is a 1956 Iranian film directed by Samuel Khachikian and Mushegh Sarvarian. It was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Reza Arham Sadr - Ahmad* Ebrahim Bagheri* Mehdi Reisfirooz* Rufia...
was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival
8th Berlin International Film Festival
The 8th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 27 to July 8, 1958.-Jury:* Frank Capra * J. Novais Teixeira* Jean Marais* Paul Rotha* L. B. Rao* Duilio Coletti* Michiko Tanaka* Gerhard T...
.
Selected filmography
- The Crossroad of Events, 1954
- A Party in HellA Party in HellA Party in Hell is a 1956 Iranian film directed by Samuel Khachikian and Mushegh Sarvarian. It was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Reza Arham Sadr - Ahmad* Ebrahim Bagheri* Mehdi Reisfirooz* Rufia...
, 1956 - A Step to Death, 1957
- Midnight’s Cry, 1961
- Hit, 1963
- Suspense, 1962
- Stroke, 1964
- The Tiger of Mazandaran, 1968
- Explosion, 1979
- The Eagles, 1984
- A Man in the Mirror, 1992
- Bluff, 1993