Hotam Fayziyev

Hotam Fayziyev (Khatam Fayziev; Hotam Xolmatovich Fayziyev) was born on 10 May 1937 in Tashkent. In 1958 he graduated from the cinematography faculty of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow.

After the institute he joined the Uzbekfilm studio, working as an assistant cameraman in 1958–1959 and then as a cinematographer in his own right. His first independent feature was “Five Friends”, and from 1960 he was on the studio’s staff.

He became known through his work with the director Shukhrat Abbasov, with whom he shot “You Are Not an Orphan” (1962) and “Tashkent, City of Bread”. Before release “Tashkent, City of Bread” was cut down; the full two-part version survived at Fayziyev’s home and was shown in full in Tashkent in 2013.

He was also the cinematographer of Ali Khamraev’s “Dilorom” (1968) and “The Extraordinary Commissar” (1970). In 1969 he was named Honoured Art Worker of the Uzbek SSR, and in 1971 he received the Hamza State Prize of the Uzbek SSR for “The Extraordinary Commissar”. In the following years he shot “Abu Rayhan Biruni” (1974), “The Four Seasons” (1976), “Beware! Snakes!” (1979), “The Meaning of Life” (1987) and other films.

In 1983 he graduated from the drama directing department of the Tashkent Theatre and Art Institute. He worked as a director on several films and documentaries, and shot many issues of the satirical newsreels “Nashtar” and “Zumrasha”.

In the years of independence he was the cinematographer of “Return My Star” (1996), Melis Abzalov’s “Days Gone By” (1997) and “Women’s Kingdom” (2000). In 1999 he was awarded the Order “El-yurt hurmati”. Hotam Fayziyev died in Tashkent on 7 May 2013.