Amirshahab Razovian’s memoir in memory of a friend and film director

Charso Press: Mustafa Samawat was one of the veteran film directors who died two days ago due to a heart problem. He started his activity in the Youth Cinema Association in the 60s, and in the past years, he held positions such as the deputy and supervisor of the General Department of Home Screening and the director general of supervising the centers, businesses and assemblies of the cinema organization. At one point, he was also responsible for evaluating and awarding artistic degrees to film artists.

Razovian, who has known and been friends with Mustafa Samawat for many years, wrote in the text he provided to ISNA:

“I knew Mustafa Samawat since he was a teenager, he was born in 1345 and we were almost the same age. His father’s house was in the neighborhood of one of our relatives on Saidieh Street in Hamedan, so we knew each other since we were teenagers. Later, in 1362, he entered Hamadan Youth Cinema Society as a student. The association had just been opened and Samavat enrolled in the first period of the association and remained in the association after that. In those years, I, Mustafa Samavat and Reza Sarkanian were active in the Hamadan Association. Maybe it was the best years of my filmmaking; We didn’t have a manager over us, we had two or three 8mm cameras and a few Agfa cassettes in the Hamedan Association, we approved the script ourselves, we made it ourselves, and we went to festivals with our films, and of course the directors paid for it. We were all happy together.

Samawat made a film called “Why are the bells ringing?”, he was very interested in photography and filming, and later collaborated with other filmmakers as a cameraman. Filming the 8mm films “Night Season” by Hassan Salahjo and “Fazai Khaki” by Mohammad Hamidi Moghadam were among his prominent works.

After a short period of time, he worked at Hamadan Youth Cinema Association and after studying performing arts until his master’s degree, he came to Tehran in the mid-70s and worked at the deputy director of cinematography in the Ministry of Culture and Guidance, and before retiring In 1400, he was the general director of the Office of Supervision of Cinematic Offices and Assemblies, Cinematic Organization. Mustafa Samawat had a calm and kind personality and with his gentle and people-oriented spirit, when he entered the government administration, he maintained his relations with his cinematographer friends well. As a manager, he was very gentle and positive, and his most important characteristic was his gentle and kind personality.
Remember him”