Masud Panahi

Masud Panahi was born in Zanjan, Iran. In 1946, his family moved to Baku.

He studied at the Azim Azimzadeh Art School (1966), the Art Faculty of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (1972), and the animation production and directing courses at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (ASCI).

For a while, he worked as a director and artist of animated films at the Jafar Jabbarli “Azerbaijanfilm” film studio (1973-1979). During those years, he organized several animation courses and trained dozens of animation specialists. He has been living in Germany since 1979.

He participated in the filming of more than 60 animated films in Germany: "House" (1980, director, artist, animator), "Kitchenware Debate" (1981–1982, director, animator of 6 episodes), "The Shoe Thief" (1982, director, artist, animator), "Animal Dispute at the Zoo" (1982–1983, director, animator of 7 episodes), "Max and Maurice" (1983, director, artist, animator of 7 episodes), "Cockfight" (1984, director, artist, animator), "Cloudy, Blue" (1984, director, artist, animator), "Oriental Tales" (1985, director, artist, 3 episodes), "Invisible Hat" (1987–1989, director, artist, 26 episodes), "The Last Apple" (1989, director, artist), “Santa's Granddaughter” (1989, director, artist), “Donky” (1993, director, artist, animator of 1 episode), “The Three Musketeers” (1994, director), “Tobias and His Lion” (1999, feature-length animated film, animator), “The Little Polar Bear” (2001, feature-length animated film, animator), “The Little Polar Bear: Lars and the Little Tiger” (2002, feature-length animated film, animator, visual effects), “The Little Polar Bear: The Dream of Flying” (2003, feature-length animated film, animator, visual effects), “The Little Polar Bear: Nanouk’s Rescue” (2003, feature-length animated film, animator, visual effects), “The Little Polar Bear: A Visitor from the South Pole” (2004, feature-length animated film, animator, visual effects), “Laura’s Star” (2005, full-length animated film, animator, background artist), “Broken Peace” (2012, director, artist).

He was awarded the 1st prize at the VII All-Union Film Festival for the animated film “Why Does the Cloud Cry” (1974, Baku). He was awarded the “Golden Boat” award for his contribution to Azerbaijani animation at the I Animafilm International Animation Festival (2018).

His autobiographical book “Rubber Cockerel” (2020) was published in Germany.