Mushegh Sarvarian
Mushegh Sarvarian was the second child of Margaret Sarvarian, founder of Iran’s first modern kindergarten. Together with his elder brother, Napoleon Sarvarian, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of stage and theater design in Iran. According to Morteza Momayez, widely known as the father of Iranian graphic design, Mushegh was also among the pioneers of graphic art in Iran and established the country’s first design and graphic arts workshop on Tehran’s Laleh-Zar Street. His name has also been cited in publications devoted to Iranian cinema as one of the early pioneers of film poster and title-sequence design.
Mushegh Sarvarian was also a poet, translator, columnist, and accomplished caricaturist. Drawing on his command of Persian, Armenian, and Russian, he devoted considerable effort to publishing cultural periodicals for children as well as political publications for adults. Two magazines, Nor Hasker (“New Clusters”) and Pahag (“The Guardian”), were the products of the tireless work of Mushegh and his family in journalism and publishing.
At the same time, Mushegh played an important role in the educational ceremonies and activities of the Kakh-e Koodakan boarding school, which was initially operated by his mother and, following her death, by his sister and wife. For many years, numerous masks, stage decorations, and sets used in the school’s end-of-year celebrations were products of the imagination and skilled hands of this endlessly active artist. In the field of mask-making, Mushegh also had a productive collaboration with the late Nosrat Karimi—a chapter of his career that deserves fuller attention elsewhere.
Perhaps the height of Mushegh’s artistic abilities became most visible through cinema, where his films demonstrated his talents in storytelling, directing, production design, and the construction of sets.
Mushegh’s first film, Mahtab-e Khoonin (“Bloody Moonlight”), produced in 1333 [1954–55], was a social and psychological drama that drew critics’ attention to the emergence of a new filmmaker. Inspired by the works of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, as well as by the educational knowledge within his own family—particularly the influence of his mother, who was an authority in pedagogy—Mushegh wrote a screenplay that carefully examined the effects of harmful parental behavior during childhood and the destructive consequences such experiences could have in adulthood.
With its tightly constructed screenplay and direction, and visual imagery influenced by German Expressionist cinema, the film made a notable appearance at Iran’s first film festival. It ultimately earned Mushegh the award for Best Screenplay, while Hooshang Beheshti shared the Best Actor award with Arman, and Monir Taslimi received Best Actress.
Mushegh used the Sarvarian School as one of the film’s principal locations. He also cast his son, Leonid, as the protagonist in childhood. Leonid’s performance received considerable praise in prominent cinema magazines of the period, which recognized his work as a child actor.
Mushegh’s second film, Shabneshini dar Jahanam (“A Party in Hell”), was above all a product of his extraordinary imagination and his remarkable ability to conceive and construct elaborate, fantastical sets. The film became a significant success in the history of Iranian cinema. It was Iran’s first film to participate in an international film festival when it was selected for the Berlin Film Festival, and for a considerable period it also held the distinction of being the highest-grossing film in Iranian cinema.
It is particularly noteworthy that Majid Mirfakhraei and Iraj Raminfar, two of Iran’s most prominent production designers of later generations, stated in an interview that the sets and production design of A Party in Hell inspired them to enter the field of cinematic production design.
Beyond directing, Mushegh was highly active in designing sets for both theater and cinema. A number of the most notable theatrical sets of the period grew out of his distinctive ideas and inventions. In cinema, examples of his work as a set designer include Esmail Koushan’s Zendani-ye Amir (“The Prince’s Prisoner”) and Shahrokh Rafi’s Rostam and Sohrab.
Alongside his artistic activities, Mushegh was also consistently engaged with politics through his writing. His critical views of the political and social conditions of the country repeatedly brought him difficulties, at times resulting in exile away from his home and family. Many believe that this political history contributed to his name being omitted from recognition for a number of his achievements, and that after his death others took advantage of these circumstances to attach their own names to works that had originally been his.
Perhaps one of the closest parallels to Mushegh’s life can be found in the story of Georges Méliès, the pioneering filmmaker of French silent cinema. Both entered the world of filmmaking with extraordinary imaginations and considerable technical knowledge. Both brought seemingly impossible stories to the screen and delighted thousands of spectators. Yet, in the end, both found themselves pushed toward the margins, their contributions fading into relative obscurity.