Biography

Okil Khamidov (born 6 October 1961), also known as Okił Khamidow, and Okił Chamidow, is a film and television director, producer and screenwriter. He owns the Polot Media filmmaking company. He is best known for his work on television series The Lousy World (1999–2008), Crime Wave (2003–2004), First Love (2004–2007), Ślad (2018–2020), Kowalscy kontra Kowalscy (2021–2022), Kuchnia (2021–2022), and Servant of the People (2023–2024). Okil Khamidov was born on 6 October 1962, in Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union (now part of Tajikistan).

He came from a filmmaking family. His father, Obid Khamidov, was the boss of film studio Tajikfilm. Okil has two brothers; Olim who is a film studies expert, and Tolib, who is a film director. As a child, Okil worked as an extra in film productions, and a voice actor in Tajik-language dubbing productions.

In 1984, he graduated in cinematography from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. From 1984 to 1994 he was the cinematographer on 14 feature films, and several documentary films made in Tajikistan.

In 1994, he moved to Wrocław, Poland, where he began working in the technical support of the production of the TVP Polonia programme Pałer. Later, he became camera operator and producer in Wrocław-based television station TeDe. From 1997 to 2003, he co-created Polsat television series Telewizyjne Biuro Śledcze, including being the camera operator, screenwriter, and director. At the time, he also worked as a vendor of cooking books.

Later, he directed Polsat television series The Lousy World (1999–2008), Crime Wave (2003–2004), and First Love (2004–2008). He also co-created reality shows Dwa światy (2001) and Bar (2002), and game shows Życiowa szansa (2000), Cash Battle (2005), and Clueless (2005). In 2003, he was granted Polish citizenship.

In 2008, he created filmmaking company TAKO Media, which was renamed to Polot Media in 2021. In 2008, he and his company created Yaka to melodiya? (Ukrainian: Яка то мелодія?), a Ukrainian-language version of Polish-language game show Jaka to melodia?. His company also created multiple Polsat paradocumentary television series, such as Dlaczego ja? (2010–present), Trudne sprawy (2011–present), and Na ratunek 112 (2016–present), which he also directed.

In 2021, he wrote and directed Polsat comedy television series Kowalscy kontra Kowalscy, and Kuchnia, which were based on Russian-made television series The Ivanovs vs. The Ivanovs, and Kitchen, respectively. In 2022, he has written and directed comedy television series Servant of the People, which was based on the 2015 Ukrainian-made television series of the same name.