Avicenna (1956)

Avicenna is a colour historical film shot in 1956 at the Tashkent Film Studio, directed by Kamil Yarmatov from a script by Viktor Vitkovich and Satim Ulugzoda. It follows the scholar and physician Ibn Sina, who lived in Bukhara in the 10th century: as a young healer he cures the emir and asks only for access to his library, but Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni's attack on Bukhara forces him to leave, and with his pupil Juzjani he comes to Gurganj, the capital of Khorezm. The title role is played by the Tajik actor Marat Aripov, with Razzak Hamraev as al-Biruni and Abbas Bakirov as Sultan Mahmud. It premiered on 9 December 1957 and at the 1958 All-Union Film Festival won a second prize for art direction, with a diploma of encouragement for the director.