Abdolhossein Sepanta
| Abdolhossein Sepanta | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 4 June 1907 Tehran, Persia |
| Died | 28 March 1969 Esfahan, Iran |
| Occupation | film director and producer. |
Abdolhossein Sepanta (Persian: عبدالحسین سپنتا) (June 4, 1907 – March 28, 1969) was a noted Iranian film director and producer. He made the earliest sound films in the Persian language. He was also a writer and journalist and promotor of liberal politics.
Abdolhossein Sepanta was born in the Vagonkhaneh Avenue area in Tehran in 1907. His father, Gholam Reza Khan was the translator of Mozzafar-al-Din Shah, a King of the Qajar dynasty.
Abdolhossein began his studies at the Saint Louis and Zoroastrian Colleges in Tehran circa 1925. He found a keen interest in ancient Persian history and literature. Therefore in 1927, he chose Sepanta as his surname. In 1927, he traveled to India via Bushehr. There, he became acquainted with Dinshah Irani as his Indian Translator, who was the director of the Persian Zoroastrian Society. After extensive studies in ancient culture, he returned to Iran for a short period.
Sepanta soon returned to India again with plans for a lengthier stay. He continued to study ancient Iranian culture and literature. Encouraged by his teachers and professors, Sepanta started his activity in cinema.
As Sepanta took more interest in film, he found that there was a possibility one of his productions could make it to theaters in Iran through some competitive tactics. The leading Iranian films producer at the time was Oganes Oganians, a Russian Armenian immigrant who pioneered the industry in Iran. His silent films were a hit in Iran and were modeled after a series of Danish comedies aired in the previous years.
Looking at the advanced technology available in British India, Sepanta realized that he could bring to Iranian cinema the first talkie film. In 1931, with an acquaintance Ardeshir Irani, a parsi from the local community, Sepanta began production of the Lor Girl at the Imperial Film Co. in Bombay. The movie was the first film with people talking in it as well as one of the first productions in a Muslim country to cast a female. The movie was screened in October 1933 in Tehran at two major movie theaters, Mayak Cinema and Sepah Cinema, and was surprisingly a major hit. Contrary to the expectations of cinema managers, who relied on foreign films, The Lor Girl was an instantaneous success and set up a new record of sale and running period which was not beaten for several years.
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