Rustam Sagdullayev

Rustam Abdullayevich Sagdullayev (Rustam Sa'dullayev) was born on 25 July 1950 in Tashkent. At school he attended the drama circle of the House of Pioneers, and at 13 he played his first film role, Alijan in "The Tightrope Walkers" (1964).

In 1969 he played Rustam in Elyor Ishmukhamedov's melodrama "Lovers", which became one of the box-office leaders of the USSR and won awards at festivals in Hungary (Keszthely) and Australia (Melbourne). In 1973 Rodion Nakhapetov recommended him to Leonid Bykov for the part of Romeo in "Only Old Men Are Going to Battle", the role that made him known across the Soviet Union.

In 1975 he graduated from the Ostrovsky Tashkent Theatre and Art Institute and became an actor of the Uzbekfilm studio. In the 1970s and 1980s he played leading parts in "My Kind Man", "The Unforgotten Song", "A Tale of Two Soldiers", "In the Torrent of a Raging River", "What Years We Have!", "Hot Summer in Kabul", "Shock" and other films.

He made his directing debut in 1984 with "Stay". In 2001 he made the 10-part television series "The Blind", which he directed, produced, co-wrote and starred in; it was shot at his private Ravshan-film studio, named after his son. For directing it he received a third-degree diploma in the Debut category at the Moscow International Festival of Telefilms.

He went on appearing in Uzbek, Russian and co-produced projects, among them "Spetsnaz", "The Twins", "The Cross in the Circle", "The Quiet Outpost", "Grigory R.", "The Penal Soldier", "The Big Sky" and "The Passenger from San Francisco"; in 2013 he appeared in Rayhon's music video "Qani". Since the 2000s he has given Victory Day concerts in cities of the former USSR together with other cast members of "Only Old Men Are Going to Battle".

In 1989 he was given the title of Honoured Artist of the Uzbek SSR, and he holds the Order of Friendship ("Do'stlik"). Since 2021 he has taught acting at the Tashkent branch of VGIK, where he leads his own workshop, and in 2023 he became its honorary professor. In 2023 he received honorary prizes of the Crystal Turandot awards and the SCO badge "People's Diplomat"; he is also a winner of a special prize of the Ak Ilbirs Awards national film prize and of the Pavel Luspekaev "Lady Luck" prize of the International Festival Council. In 2026, at the 7th "Western Gates" International Film Festival in Pskov, he sat on the jury of the international competition and received the honorary "Life in Cinema" award.