Yuldash Agzamov

Yuldash Agzamov (Yo'ldosh A'zamov) was born on 10 May 1909 in Tashkent. He came to cinema very young: from 1926 to 1930 he acted at the Sovkino and Vostokkino studios. In 1930 he graduated from the acting faculty of the State Technical School of Cinematography (today VGIK), in the workshop of S. Komarov and F. Nikitin.

That year he joined the Uzbekgoskino trust, which later became the Uzbekfilm studio. He began as an actor and as a director of propaganda films, and made more than a hundred newsreels and documentary sketches. In the late 1930s he was a stage director at the Tashkent Theatre of Young Spectators and artistic director of the Republican Puppet Theatre, where he staged plays that included “A Lone White Sail” after Valentin Kataev and “Our Weapon” by A. Kron.

From 1939 he was a staff director at Uzbekfilm. In 1945 he made “Tahir and Zuhra” together with N. Ganiev. After the war he directed feature films of his own, among them “Furqat” (1959), “The Bell of Sayat” (1966), “Fiery Paths” (1971), “For the Sake of Others” (1976), “Father’s Bequest” (1979) and “A Big Short Life” (1981).

One of his best-known works is “Maftuningman” (1958), regarded as the first Uzbek film comedy; its songs are still loved. In 1969 he made “Days Gone By”, based on Abdulla Qodiriy’s novel of the same name (premiered 11 May 1970). He occasionally acted in his own films as well.

He was named Honoured Art Worker of the Uzbek SSR in 1964, People’s Artist of the Uzbek SSR in 1970 and People’s Artist of the USSR in 1979. He was a laureate of the Hamza State Prize of the Uzbek SSR and held the Order of the October Revolution. A member of the Communist Party from 1946, he also belonged to the Union of Cinematographers of the Uzbek SSR.

Agzamov died in Tashkent on 16 June 1985 and was buried at the Chigatay cemetery.