Sam Chegini

Chegini began his career as a puppeteer at a local TV station at the age of 14. In 2009, he joined VOP (Voice of Peace), a group that worked on reconstructing ancient Persian musical instruments, sponsored by the UN-Habitat and IAARA. He produced the film The Lyre of Mesopotamia, which received an award for best video art at the 1st Persbookart Contest on Facebook in 2010, judged by Edward Lucie-Smith.^[3]

In 2011, he created the video Traveller for Dutch singer/songwriter Linde Nijland.^[4] Traveller has been an official selection of various film festivals and has been screened in several countries.^{[citation needed]} In 2013, Chegini won the Royal Reel Award from the Canada International Film Festival for the music video, which was also voted #1 in the Frisian charts on the Klipkar+TV program.^[5]

In 2016, Chegini made an animated music video for British comedian Sir Lenny Henry, titled "The Cops Don't Know" produced by British record producer Chris Porter, which premiered on Classic Rock Magazine.^[6] Henry commended the video in an interview with Classic Rock Magazine, noting its "labor of love" style and calling Sam "gifted".^[7][8]

In 2017, Chegeni joined Verbatim Theater Group as a video artist, projection mapper and international affairs expert for the play MANUS, which was directed by Nazanin Sahamizadeh. He participated in 3 international festivals with the team, including the 36th Fajr International Theater Festival (Tehran),^[9] 2 performances in Bangladesh, (Chittagong and Dhaka)^[10] and the 10th International Theatre Festival of Kerala (Thrissur, Kerala, India).^[11]

As artistic director, Chegini organized the 9th Wordless International Short Film Festival in the city of Qazvin, Iran, which was screened concurrently in Sydney, Australia, in November 2017.^[12][13]

In August 2018, "SamChats," an online talk show interviewing international artists for a Persian-speaking audience, premiered on YouTube. Hosted by Sam Chegini, the first season featured Neil Taylor, Lena Katina, Ayda Mosharaf, and Alex Jolig.^[14]

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chegini directed a music video for King Crimson's frontman, Jakko Jakszyk, titled "The Trouble with Angels".^{[15][16][17][18][19]} Jakszyk praised Chegini's work, commenting, "The first single, The Trouble With Angels, makes its debut on the 14 August 2020, complete with an extraordinary, animated video by Iranian filmmaker Sam Chegini. And getting that made amidst the pandemic is a whole other story!"^[20] In an exclusive interview with Prog magazine, Jakko recounted the unusual production process of the video due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a challenging political climate in Iran, leading Prog Magazine to headline: "Worldwide political upheaval almost derails the shoot for King Crimson singer Jakko Jakszyk's recent promo video".^[21]

"The video looks amazing, but what's most amazing is that we managed to make it at all," said Jakko Jakszyk, explaining the difficult online production of the animated video.^[21] In another interview with Prog, British journalist/TV presenter Matthew Wright described the video as: "I haven't seen anything quite like it! It is not just visually stunning. The story behind the video is worth telling." In the same interview, Jakszyk mentioned their initial collaboration on the video for Lenny Henry's "The Cops Don't Know," which resulted in their subsequent collaborations, "The Trouble with Angels" and "Uncertain Times".^[22]

Later in 2020, Chegini directed another animated music video, "Uncertain Times", for Jakko Jakszyk, starring British actor and comedian, Al Murray.^[23][24][25]

In 2021, an official music video for "Aqualung" was released by Warner Music to commemorate the album's 50th Anniversary.^[26] The Aqualung video, directed by Sam Chegini, premiered on Rolling Stone on 1 April 2021. Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson praised Chegini in a statement to Rolling Stone.^[27][28]

On 21 April 2021, for World Creativity and Innovation Day, the virtual event "Creativity For Urban Future" was hosted by the UN-Habitat and Urban+Future. Alongside the screening of the video "Aqualung" at the virtual event, Chegini gave a speech about "Limitations that can lead to Creativity and Innovation" based on his experiences making videos.^[29][30]

On 30 April, Gentle Giant announced the release date of a remixed version of their 1975 album "Free Hand" by Steven Wilson with custom visuals for all tracks. The video for the title track "Free Hand" was directed and animated by Chegini, and released 25 June 2021.^[31][32]

On 15 October 2021, British-Irish singer/songwriter, Chris de Burgh released a music video for his single "Legacy" directed by Chegini.^[33] The animated music video was produced for his album "The Legend of Robin Hood".^[34][35]

On 28 January 2022, Jethro Tull's new album, "The Zealot Gene", was released, with two music videos directed by Chegini: "Sad City Sisters"^{[36][37][38][39]} and "The Zealot Gene".^{[40][41][42][43][44][45][excessive citations]}

In 2024, Chegini directed and animated 3 music videos for British composer and keyboardist, Benjamin Croft's album "We Are Here to Help" including the title track feat. Jeff Scott Soto, "Wrestling with Plato" feat. Lynsey Ward and "Lower Moat Manner".^[46][47] Later that year, he directed and animated 3 videos for British singer/songwriter, Marsha Swanson's album "Near Life Experience" for the tracks "No Mystery", "Still Remember" and "In Touch"^[48]

Chegini is also a member of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Intercultural Leaders.^[49]

• Best Music Video - Tassvir Film Festival, for Chris de Burgh's Legacy^[50][51]
• Best Music Video - Cannes World Film Festival, for The Trouble with Angels (2021)
• Honorable Mention - 39th New Jersey International Film Festival, for The Trouble with Angels (2021)^{[permanent dead link]}
• Best Music Video Award, ShortPole London, for The Cops Don't Know (2016)^[52]
• Music Video of the Month, The Monthly Film Festival, for The Cops Don't Know (2016)^[53]
• Best Music Video, The Motion Picture Film Festival, USA for Emotions of Tomorrow (2016)^[54]
• Best short of the week, Reel13 WNET, PBS for Traveller music video (2014)^[55]
• The Royal Reel Award for Traveller music video – Canada International Film Festival (2013)^[56]
• 1st place – Music Video Category for Traveller – 9th Annual MY HERO International Film Festival 2013^[57]
• 2nd place – Experimental/Music Video category for Traveller – The 6th Annual Boomtown Film and Music Festival, Texas (2013)^[58]