Vagif Mustafayev

Vagif Mustafayev was born in Baku.

He studied at the Azerbaijan State Institute of National Economy, and in the directing department of the Higher Directing and Screenwriting Courses in Moscow (Eldar Ryazanov's course).

He began his career in 1973 at the "Azerbaijanfilm" film studio. In the early years of his career, he shot about 50 satirical feature and documentary plots for the "Mozalan" film magazine. He served as Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2001-2006), President of the Space Independent Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.

He was awarded awards from various international festivals for his achievements in cinema. For the film "Life, It Seems, is Beautiful" he was awarded the title of "Best Director of the Turkic World" at the Korkut Ata International Film Festival (2022).

He teaches film directing at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. He was awarded the title of professor by the Higher Attestation Committee.

Honored Artist (2000), People's Artist (2005). He was awarded the State Prize (1991), the Order of Glory (2003), the Order of Honor (2018), and the Order of Labor of the 2nd degree (2023).