Director, artist, screenwriter, animator

Biography:

Elchin Hami Akhundov was born in Baku on February 7, 1948. The artist and director Elchin Akhundov, who graduated from Azim Azimzade Art School (1968) and Lviv Polygraph Institute (1978), made significant contributions to the creation and development of Azerbaijani animation. Since 1966, he has been working in the cinema industry as a production designer, animator, and director. E. Akhundov is the director of up to 10 animated films and the artistic director of up to 30 animated films. From 1994, he worked as the artistic director of Azanfilm Animation Film Studio and from 2000 to 2012, as the managing director of the same studio.

In 2016, he founded the Gurama Children’s Animation Studio, which he still leads. E. Akhundov has contributed to the emergence of several generations of modern Azerbaijani directors and animators. Furthermore, E. Akhundov is the author of dozens of educational books for children, including the Make it Yourself Series (Arshin Mal Alan, If Not That One, Then This One), Your First Book Series (Learn step-by-step and Work Hard, Ecological Alphabet) etc. He is the chief consultant of the Azerbaijan Animation book.

On December 18, 2000, he was awarded the honorary title of Honored Culture Worker of Azerbaijan in recognition of his contributions to the development of Azerbaijani cinema. Elchin Hami Akhundov was awarded the Golden Boat award for his contribution to Azerbaijan animation at the 2nd ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival (2019). In 2022, he received an award “For his contribution to the development of animation” at the Tashkent International Animation Forum.

Elchin Hami Akhundov is the co-founder of the Azerbaijan Animation Association.

Links:

Elchin Hami Akhundov – Facebook

GURAMA Children’s Animation Studio – YouTube channel

Filmography:
1. Jirtdan (1969) – artist’s assistant
2. Lion and Two Oxen (1970) – phase artist
3. The Bear and the Mouse (1970) – phase artist, artist-decorator
4. Fitna (1970) – background artist
5. Why is the Cloud Crying? (1973) – artist’s assistant
6. The Girl, the Boy and the Lion (1974, short documentary film) – artist
7. Pispisa Khanum and Mouse Bey (1974) – artist’s assistant
8. Princess Black Gold (1974) – artist’s assistant
9. Play, My Saz, Play (1976) – artist
10. Claw… Ear… Carpet… Thorn… (1976) – assistant director
11. The King and the Servant (1976) – artist
12. Stone (1977) – artist
13. Little Hedgehog and Apple (1977) – artist
14. Toral and Zari (1979) – artist
15. My Chickens (1980) – artist
16. A Person Comes to the Forest (1980) – artist
17. Jirtdan-Giant. First film (1981) – artist
18. Child and Wind (1982) – director
19. Five Steps (1983, short documentary film) – director
20. Jirtdan-Giant. The second film (1983) – artist
21. Flying Giraffe (1983) – artist
22. Chasing (1984) – artist
23. Test (1985) – artist
24. Humay’s Dream (1985) – artist
25. Adventures of Ijon Tichy (1985) – artist
26. Braggart Baby Elephant (1987) – artist
27. When You Step Out of the Norm (novella “Majlis”) (1988) – director, artist
28. Mirror (1990) – director, artist
29. False Shepherd (1991) – artist
30. Sea Voyage (1992) – director, artist
31. Hope (1992) – director, screenwriter, artist
32. Sohbatul-asmar (Argument of Fruits) (1994) – director, screenwriter
33. Javanshir (2002) – director, screenwriter, artist
34. Kitabi-Dada Qorqud. Basat and Tepegoz (2003) – editing director
35. Gold (2004) – director, artist
36. The Crow’s Nest and the Nest of the Stranger (2005) – artist
37. Mirror (2006) – artist, artistic director
38. Cat and Mouse (2007) – artistic director
39. Brave Airplane (2009) – artistic director
40. Caterpillar’s Dream (2010) – artistic director
41. The House of the Snail (2011) – director, artist
42. Little House (2012) – artistic director
43. Green Men (2022) – director, screenwriter

Filmography of GURAMA Children’s Animation Studio:

1. Tulip’s Dream (2016) – artistic director
2. Arif’s Joy (2016) – artistic director
3. Mother and Three Sons (2016) – artistic director
4. The Story of Teacher Ali (2016) – artistic director
5. Naughty Cat (2016) – artistic director
6. Big Brother’s Help (2016) – artistic director
7. Ant and Elephant (2016) – artistic director
8. The First Snow (2016) – artistic director
9. Happy Girls (2016) – artistic director
10. In the Park (2016) – artistic director
11. Road Accident (2017) – artistic director
12. Nowruz Holiday (2017) – artistic director
13. Nowruz Customs (2017) – artistic director
14. Tomi in the Spring Festival (2017) – artistic director
15. Village Journey (2017) – artistic director
16. Dolphin and Girls (2017) – artistic director
17. Care for the Motherland (2017) – artistic director
18. Lost Baby Elephant (2017) – artistic director
19. The Most Beautiful Flag in the World (2017) – art director
20. Flight to Uranus (2018) – artistic director