Samuel Khachikian

Samuel Khachikian (Persian: ساموئل خاچیکیان ‎, 1923, Armenian: Սամուէլ Խաչիկեան, Tabriz Iran, – 22 October 2001, Tehran) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, author, and film editor of Armenian descent. He was one of the most influential figures in Iran's movie industry and was nicknamed "Iran's Hitchcock".

Born 1923 in Tabriz to a family of Armenian immigrants, Samuel Khachikian published his first poem “The Prison” in the Alik newspaper when he was nine. Five years later, he gave his first stage performance in Tabriz in a play titled “Seville”. He completed his education in History and Journalism, and wrote eight plays which went on stage not only in different cities of Iran, but also in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Greece.

Khachikian made his first film in 1953, titled “The Return”. He was among the first and few directors who used the decoupage technique on the film set, preparing the complete shooting script in advance. The success of his works attracted a lot of attention to the advantages of this filmmaking approach. As an innovative filmmaker, he turned the production of murder mysteries into a popular new wave in the Iranian filmmaking. He made the first ever movie trailer in the history of Iranian cinema for the movie “A Girl from Shiraz” in 1954. Some of his films such as “The Strike” and “The Eagles” were box office hits of their times. Samuel's son Edwin Khachikian is currently a director in Tehran, Iran. Samuel's brother Souren Khachikian was also heavily involved in the production of his films. Souren's grandson Ara H. Keshishian is currently working as a film editor in Hollywood.

His 1956 film A Party in Hell was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival.