Sofiko Chiaureli was buried at the Pantheon in Tbilisi, Georgia and a decision has been made to name a street after the great actress who was Paradjanov's muse. Perhaps it would be near Maestro's statue in Tbilisi?!

We are still investigating the issue of fake collages sold by London's MacDougall Arts Ltd Auctions and hope to update our readers in the near future.

Paradjanov retrospective and exhibition at goEast festival of Central and Eastern European film will be held in Wiesbaden, Germany, 9 - 15 April, 2008.

Visit the Museum of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors in the Verkhovina village of Ukraine's Ivano-Frankovsk region at the house of Vasiliy Khimchak where Paradjanov filmed his Ukrainian masterpiece in 1964.

An asteroid called 3963 Paradzhanov was discovered on October 8, 1969 by Lyudmila Chernykh. The asteroid is also known as 1969 TP2 and has an Absolute Magnitute of 13.6 (whatever that means!) and Eccentricity of 0.1962314 (now that's surprising; zero eccentricity for Paradjanov?!) Here's more from Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

In February, the Telegraph in England published a list of The 100 Best films - Documentary and World Cinema. At number 9 is Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev and at number 10 -- Sergei Paradjanov's The Color of Pomegranates. "It delivers a torrent of breathtaking images", the paper wrote.

Erik Morse of SFGB Arts and Culture wrote this about the recent screening of Jodorowsky's El Topo at SFMoma "...Like other cinematic prophets before him - Armenian director Sergei Paradjanov and Pier Paolo Pasolini come to mind - Jodorowsky had a tendency toward "vulgar" messianism that would often subject him to the political disenfranchisement of Homo sacer. El Topo, has, in many ways, become a symbol of his artistic crucifixion..."

Composer Tigran Mansurian made an appearance at the premiere of his Litte Suite on March 30, 2008 at the Zipper Hall in Los Angeles, which was performed as part of Dilijan Chamber Music series. Tigran Mansurian scored Sergei Parajanov's The Color of Pomegranates and several of Mikhail Vartanov's documentaries.

In May, the filmmaker Atom Egoyan will be in Israel to receive the Dan David Prize. Egoyan will share the 1 million dollar prize with playwright Tom Stoppard and novelist Amos Oz. [07 April 2008]

We think a fake Paradjanov collage was sold for $178,000 (one hundered seventy-eight thousand USD) in London at the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auctions on June 15th, 2007. Read the full story here.

Suren Parajanov and Svetlana Parajanov report a very sad news -- actress Sofiko Chiaureli passed away in Tbilisi, Georgia. [02 March 2008]

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will screen 6 films by Sergei Paradjanov from 22 to 29 February 2008. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and Andriesh on February 22nd at 7:30pm and 9:20pm; Ashik Kerib and The First Lad on February 23rd at 7:30pm and 9:00pm; The Color of Pomegranates and Legend of Surami Fortress on February 29th at 7:30pm and 9:20pm.

This coincides with Kino International's release of a DVD box set of Paradjanov's 1964-1988 masterpieces. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is released on DVD in US for the first time. All DVDs, except for The Color of Pomegranates DVD, were licensed from Russian distributor RUSCICO. Here is a review by Richard von Busack who writes about Shadows "Some of the ideas here turn up in the modern cinema: the mysterious log barge coursing down a river in the fog as its crew looks for a dead woman is all over [Francis Ford Coppola's Oscar-winning] Apocalypse Now..."

National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kiev (Kyev) is holding an exhibition of Sergei Paradjanov's collages and art works until 16 March 2008. Suren Parajanov and Svetlana Parajanov were present at the opening ceremony.

Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosian mentioned Sergei Paradjanov in a piece that appeared in publication Hetq. "The fame, in the Soviet Union and throughout the world, of people like...Sergey Parajanov...were an endless source of joy..." The former president held the post from 1991-1998 and was running for president again in 2008.

Dorothy Shinn of Akron Beacon Journal reports that Dr. Tehnyat Majeed, a specialist in Islamic architecture, gave a free 45-minute talk, Aesthetic Continuums: Armenian Church Architecture, highlighting Armenian church buildings, from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Sunday (17 February 2008) at the Cleveland Museum of Art Recital Hall followed by the screening of Sergei Paradjanov's The Color of Pomegranates.

The Parajanov Award of Tbilisi International Film Festival went to Andrzej Jakimowski's film Tricks. The award is given to films of noted artistic and sensitive quality.

Today, Mikhail Vartanov turns 71. [21 February 2008]

Karen Kurdiyan, Armenia's great sound guru, who has worked on Parajanov's Confession (1990) and almost all of Vartanov's films, left us on March 7, 2007.

Beverly Hills Film Festival, which had resurrected such films as Towards the Moon with Fellini (2006), Paradjanov: The Last Spring (1992) and D.W. Griffith's In Old California (1910), opens today at 6:00pm at the Clarity Theater in Beverly Hills and will conclude with the awards ceremony on April 15, 2007 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Vartanov is attending as member of the jury.

Composer Tigran Mansurian (Mansuryan), who scored Parajanov's Sayat Nova and several of Vartanov's films, delighted New York City with two premieres: Con Anima for string sextet at Merkin Concert Hall on March 27, and Agnus Dei for clarinet, violin, cello and piano at Weill Auditorium at Carnegie Hall on April 6, 2007.

Ukraine's Kyiv National Opera has recently showcased Myroslav Skoryk's opera Moses. Skoryk was the composer of Sergei Parajanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.

At Sundance Film Festival, filmmaker Jessica Woodworth said in an interview "...once I had seen the works of Chris Marker, Chen Kaige, Pasolini, Peleshian, Angelopoulos, Paradjanov...I concluded it would be the grandest thing in the world to be able to express oneself in the medium of film..."

The Lark Farm by Italy's Taviani brothers, which screened at Berlin Film Festival, will open Yerevan International Film Festival Golden Apricot (the fest also awards the annual Parajanov Award). The film focuses on an Armenian family in Turkey in May 1915 as the government of Turkey orders the Armenian Genocide. The film stars Arsinée Khanjian who played Ani in Atom Egoyan's unforgettable film-in-film Ararat.

In the press:

Armenia's leading Russian language newspaper Novoye Vremya was the first to note this year is Vartanov's 70th anniversary. The article titled "Famous Unknown Vartanov" called him a "brilliant filmmaker... like Paradjanov, Vartanov exchanged the camera for the pen... excellent style, witty opinion, philosophically mature thought are characteristic...in his analysis of Armenian art... it wouldn't be improper to organize a retrospective of the unknown Vartanov. Not just anywhere. In the homeland." Thanks, guys, let's hope ministry of culture read it.

Chattanooga Pulse's Jeremy Osgood recently wrote "No sooner do you memorize the titles of Fassbinder’s major works and learn to bluff your way through a conversation on Parajanov than somebody kicks over a rock and uncovers yet another obscure but essential master of the cinema. The latest is Mikio Naruse..."

The New York Sun's Joy Goodwyn reported in January "The film itself dances in this 1969 imagistic classic by the Armenian-Russian director Sergei Paradjanov..." The film was shown on January 5, 2007 at the 35th Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center in New York. It was followed by a screening of our friend Alla Kovgan's Movement (R)evolution Africa.

Depaulia's Alexandra Klimczak reported in January that DePaul University's Interfaith Film Society screened Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegranates on January 31, 2007 at Lincoln Park campus in the Schmitt Academic Center.

The Baltimore Sun's Chris Kaltenbach reported in February "Russian writer-director Sergei Paradjanov's The Color of Pomegranates, a lush chronicle...of the life and artistry of medieval Armenian poet Sayat Nova, will be screened Monday at the Baltimore Museum of Art..."

East Bay Express' Kelly Vance reported on April 4, 2007 about the screening of Seasons of the Year on April 8, at the Pacific Film Archives during a tribute to the oldest American film festival - the San Francisco International Film Festival, which celebrates its 50th anniversary. In the past, the fest had screened many films by Paradjanov, Tarkovsky, Peleshian and presented its Golden Gate Award to Vartanov in 1995.

And:

On the Czech Parajanov site, a new page about Hagop Hovnatanian (1906-1881) has been created.

Compatriot of Sergei Parajanov from the Republic of Georgia, talented actress Anna Gurji Giorgobiani is interested in acting in foreign productions.

Congratulations to Papken Shahbazian for receiving a Scientific and Technical Academy Award for the design and development of the Hollywood Film Company Brumagic MPST Densitometer. Papken Shahbazian is probably not related to Suren Shahbazian who was the cinematographer of Parajanov's Sayat Nova.

Marina Tarkovsky and Alexander Gordon attended the Spanish premiere of Paradjanov: The Last Spring at Navarra International Documentary Film Festival on February 26, 2007. Jean Vigo's daughter, film critic Luce Vigo, Jean-Marie Carzou and Sofiko Chiaureli attended the French premiere of the film on March 10, 2007 at Magic Cinema's Théâtres au cinéma Film Festival. [11 April 2007]

In Spain, the Navarra International Documentary Film Festival Punto de Vista (February 23 - March 3, 2007) will hold a Dear Andrei retrospective dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky. Paradjanov: The Last Spring, which features a poetic chapter on the friendship of Tarkovsky and Paradjanov, will have its Spanish premiere on Monday, February 26. Mikhail Vartanov, who is attending the event as a member of the international jury, will introduce the film. The premiere coincides with Vartanov's 70th aniversary and the film's 15th. The jury will award Spain's first Jean Vigo Award for Best Direction.

In France, the Magic Cinema's Théâtres au cinéma Film Festival (9 - 23 March 2007) is holding a Sergei Paradjanov retrospective in Bobigny just outside of Paris. Parajanov: The Last Spring will have its French premiere on Saturday March 10th, 2007 at 7pm. Mikhail Vartanov will be on hand to answer questions from the audience and also introduce Sergei Paradjanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. [20 February 2007]

In the review of Darren Aronofsky's film, The Fountain, Jeremy Osgood wrote the following in his funny-titled article Dude. Like, Where's the Script which was published in the The Pulse "...it demonstrates too much faith in the beauty of his images. There is, of course, a place for purely visual cinema. It is a place filled by the likes of Parajanov and Reggio who produce work that is stunning..." Incidentally, Godfrey Reggio had recently received the Parajanov Award at the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival in Armenia.

Martin Vartanov's Erased Faces II has been postponed again, now till 2007, due to difficulties with getting the clips of Mikhail Vartanov's films out of Armenia. In 2007, Vartanov turns 70, Parajanov: The Last Spring turns 15 and and a few celebrations are planned in Europe, US and, hopefully, Armenia. It is hoped that these events will help bring more attention to the very little known master and his oeuvre which has been suppressed for decades and till this day virtually never been shown to the general public.

In Bucharest, Romania, Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegranates and Hagop Hovnatanian as well as Atom Egoyan's Ararat were screened in November during Days of Armenian Cinema. The latter film is about the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by Turkish government in 1915. On a related note, Sylvester Stallone told Denver Post that he had always wanted to make a film about the Armenian Genocide based on Franz Werfel's famous novel 40 Days of Musa Dagh: "...an epic about the complete destruction of a civilization...The Turks have been killing that subject for 85 years."

In Armenia, an exhibition dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Hagop Hovnatanian opened on Wednesday at the National Library of Armenia.

Congratulations to the creators of the documentary Screamers for winning the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival's Audience Award for Best Documentary.

Festival International du Film d'Amiens, which took place 10 - 19 November 2006, screened Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegranates and Amo Bek-Nazarov's silent Zangezur.

Mohammed Shine of Kerala, India recently wrote in his blog that Kamara Kamalova's new film Road Under the Skies' "...surreal scenes of colourful but abstract local mythology smacks of the master Sergei Paradjanov..."

In France, La Cinémathèque de Toulouse begins a retrospective of Armenian films, called Fragments d’Arménie on 1 Januray 2007. During the month of January all post 1964 films of Sergei Paradjanov will be screened along with the work of Amo Bek-Nazarov, Atom Egoyan, Bagrat Oganesyan, Albert Mkrtchyan as well as Artavazd Pelechian's We and Seasons.

Robert Kelly wrote the following in his paper presented at the Princeton Conference on Magic and Cinema: "Interesting that throughout the government direction of the arts in the USSR, film found its way to magic and wonder only through treatment of folklore. The same route that the German Romantics had followed to escape the inexorable rationality of the Enlightenment became the way through the penny-plain austerities of Socialist Realism and beyond into splendor - the work of Parajanian/Parajanov, the great Armenian-Russian director contains magnificent examples of this liberation."

P.S. Sergei Parajanov was a marvelous jokster so we thought to conclude with an anecdote. Here we go...
An author to his distant relative:
Author-"Well, Joe, what can I tell you? I took me ten years to discover that I had absolutely no talent for writing literature."
Relative-"You gave up?"
Author-"Oh, no, by that time I was too famous."

Happy New Year

[31 December 2006]

AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, on 2 November 2006, had the world premiere of the documentary Screamers by Carla Garapedian about Grammy-winning band System of a Down. The film opens in December in Los Angeles and, in January, in New York, Boston and Chicago.

Ars Poetica International Poetry Festival in Bratislava screened Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegranate(s) and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors on 15 October 2006.

Arpa International Film Festival in Hollywood, on 26 October 2006, screened Eileen Thalenberg's documentary A Long Journey Home about opera star Isabel Bayrakdarian (one scene was filmed at the Parajanov Museum).

Composer Troels Folmann learned how to play duduk while scoring the music for the video game Tomb Raider: Legend. He recently said: "I worked two months...conducted pretty extensive research...bought some of the cultural signature instruments like Peruvian Pan Flutes, African Whale drums, Armenian Duduks, Tibetan Horns and learned how to play them..."

Artivist Film Festival will screen the documentary Sex Slaves by Ric Esther Bienstock on 10 November 2006 at the Egyptian Theater. The film is about global sex trade in women from the former Soviet Bloc.

James Chapman's new novel Stet is loosely based on the life of Sergei Paradjanov. It is a story of one filmmaker who is sent to prison and who dies there without having produced much more than a single film.

In Moscow, an exhibition titled Dialogue of Two Cultures: Russian-Armenian Cultural Ties in the 19-20th Centuries opened at the Polytechnic Museum on 26 October 2006. Sergei Paradjanov's work is featured in the exhibition along with composers Komitas, Khachaturian and others.

In Tallinn, Estonia, the Druzba Theater screened Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegranate(s), Legend Of Suram Fortress and Ashik Kerib on 27 - 29 October 2006.

San Francisco Art Institute, in October, screened Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker, Artavazd Pelechian's Seasons and Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegranate(s).

And last but not least, on 10 November, Suren Paradjanov celebrates his birthday. [3 November 2006 2006 ]

Sergei Parajanov's Sayat Nova or The Color of Pomegranate(s) was screened in Sao Paolo, Brazil during a retrospective of Armenian films 19 - 24 September 2006 which also featured films by Canadian and French masters Atom Egoyan and Henri Verneuil.

Steven Zaillian's excellent All the King's Men opens today. It stars Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson and James Gandolfini. Steven Zaillian is the screenwriter of the Schindler's List for which he won an Academy Award (Oscar). We have seen and recommend All the King's Men highly.

Congratulations to producer Charisse Simonian who won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Hollywood Reporter's Jeff Bond wrote this on 22 August 2006: "...the increasing prevalence of what might be called a world music sensibility in modern film scoring, where an Armenian duduk is as likely to be heard under dialogue as a saxophone... it's clear that the film-music melting pot is once again on the boil." We invite our readers to click here.

Philippine Daily Inquirer's Constantino Tejero (reporting on the Goethe-Institute's festival of German silent cinema) wrote this on the 7th of August 2006: "It is our strong opinion that if one should ever plunge into Parajanov or Tarkovsky, one must first mine ... silent classics. Otherwise, one’s film appreciation would be half-baked." [22 September 2006 ]

Parajanov: The Last Spring will premiere in Poland and open the Sergei Parajanov retrospective at the Era New Horizons Film Festival in Wroclaw on 21 July 2006. Mikhail Vartanov will arrive to the Polish land to present his award-winning work. Speical thanks to Andrzej Slowicki who initiated the tribute to Maestro and also festival's Roman Gutek, Krzysztof Gluchowski and Joanna Lapinska who all helped organize it.

Ben Simington from New York reports that retrospectives of Sergei Parajanov and Andrei Tarkovsky are on at the Anthology Film Archives starting the 25 July 2006.

Tonino Guerra and Artavazd Peleshian received the Parajanov Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Golden Apricot Film Festival in Armenia, along with Godfrey Reggio, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Marko Bellocchio. Jerusalem Film Festival's Lifetime Achievment winners this year are Atom Egoyan and Roman Polanski.

Congratulations to actress Angela Sarafyan who will appear in the indie film Kabluey starring Lisa Kudrow.

We would like to ask our readers to help answering a question asked by Abraham Chelsvig who had recently watched Ivans XTC directed by Bernard Rose and believes that "about 1 hour and 25 minutes in the movie, when Ivan is lying in a hospital bed dying, the TV is playing Color of Pomegranates." Hopefully, some of our readers have seen this film and can help us determine if Maestro's work was indeed an inspiration here.

In Tokyo, Sergei Paradjanov's the Color of Pomegranates, Atom Egoyan's Calendar and Edgar Baghdasarian's Miriam wiil be screened on the 11, 12 and 19 August 2006.

In South Korea, Jeonju International Film Festival screened Sergei Parajanov's Ukrainian Rhapsody during Films Prohibited in the USSR series - 27 April to 5 May 2006. The only correction we have is that this title had not actually been prohibited.

Mark Harris recently wrote an article for Georgia Straight of Vancouver about the Pacific Cinémathèque's The Road to Damascus: Discovering Syrian Cinema: "...Sacrifices... will remind viewers most strongly of the aesthetics of Central Asian genius Sergei Parajanov." [ 19 July 2006 ]

Sergei Parajanov's Shadows Of Our Forgotten Ancestors was shown in Torun, Poland, during Days of Armenia 3 - 4 June 2006. Hopefully, the selection of Maestro's Ukrainian masterpiece (for Days of Armenia!) instead of his Armenian masterpiece Sayat Nova -- wasn't because of the undying bureaucracy at Armenia's film studio (where the film is kept) but merely due to the fact that the Ukrainian and Polish cultures are much closer related than Armenian. Incidentally, in Polish, the film's title is written as Cienie zapomnianych przodków and Maestro's name - Siergiej Paradzanow. [ 10 June 2006 ]

We are disturbed by the news that the House of Cinema in Armenia - where Parajanov's Color of the Pomegranate and Vartanov's Parajanov: The Last Spring had their premieres - may be demolished and replaced by a high rise building even though Armenia is in a zone of frequent earthquakes (1988 earthquake killed 25.000 people). This is starting to look a lot like the many recent horror stories about the badly planned or unauthorized constructions, illegal tree cutting and air pollution in Armenia, not to mention the closure of the Museum of Cinema in Moscow, despite the best efforts of its curator Naum Kleiman.

Pictures from the closing night of 2006 Russian Nights Film Festival in Hollywood, which has been very attentive to the work of Sergei Paradjanov, screening 3 of his masterpieces in the festival's 4 year history, can be seen here. Harrison Ford, Sir Ben Kingsley, Thora Birch, Natasha Henstridge, Oleg Vidov, Radion Nakhapetov, Mikhail Vartanov and Stas Namin were among the American and Russian celebrities walking the red carpet. [ 13 May 2006 ]

Today, the great photographer Yuri Mechitov, whom we love very, very much, celebrates his birthday, in the beautiful city of Tbilisi, Georgia, where Sergei Parajanov and Rouben Mamoulian were also born. [ 10 May 2006 ]

The Jewish Week newspaper of New York wrote this today: "...the quality of Syrian filmmaking derives from the fact that most of the directors received their training in Soviet film schools. Many of them studied in Russia in the ‘70s and ‘80s when the ferment bred by mavericks like Andrei Tarkovsky and Sergei Parajanov was beginning to make itself felt in Soviet film and the young would-be filmmakers from the Central Asian republics were bringing their own sensibilities to class..." [ 05 May 2006 ]

The president of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus visited the Parajanov Museum on the 26th of April 2006. It's unlikely that he had read our news from the 27th of September 2005 but the Matenadaran Museum was also visited.

A mystery book "Philippine Fever" by Dr. Bruce R. Cook, a professor of cinema, physicist, mathematician, and European film enthusiast, has been published by the Capital Crime Press. We recommend it and would like to see it made into a movie. Roman Polanski, Richard Linklater and Francois Ozon come to mind.

Film scholar John Rowland has compiled a list of the Top 100 Films of All Time. Maestro Sergei Parajanov is the only director with 2 films in the top 10. More about Parajanov and Top 100 lists is here. [ 30 April 2006 ]

On Sunday, Mikhail Vartanov made an appearance at the Fourth Annual Russian Nights Film Festival in West Hollywood which opened with the screening of Tigran Keosayan's (very funny!) comedy "Rabbit Over the Void" (2006). The film starring Bogdan Stupka was lensed by Igor Klebanov and produced by Ruben Dishdishyan. Hollywood's Dennis Hopper and Roger Corman dropped by along with Russia's Radion Nahapetov who had narrated Mikhail Vartanov's first film "The Monologue of the Mask" (1965).

On Monday, Lars Christer Olson, the Executive Director of UEFA (Union of European Football Association) visited the Parajanov Museum in Yerevan. And that's also very funny. (Parajanov and football? Hmm...)

On Tuesday, New York's Village Voice wrote this: "Forgotten world-class figure, Frantisek Vlácil was... the Czech New Wave's formalist... their (Orson) Welles, their (Sergei) Paradjanov".

On Wednesday, Mikhail Vartanov appeared at the Writer's Guild Theater for the opening ceremony of the Sixth Annual Bevelry Hills Film Festival which kicked off with the screening of "Towards the Moon with Fellini" by Fellini's assitant Eugenio Cappuccio, starring Roberto Benigni and Giulietta Masina. Hollywood beauty, the actress Dominique Swain also attended the event to support her film "The Locrain Mode" by Eric Lodal. Beverly Hills Film Festival director Nino Simon mentioned Maestro Sergei Parajanov, Fellini, Tarkovsky and Godard in his speech recalling the rediscovery of "Parajanov: The Last Spring" (1992) and D.W. Griffith's "In Old California" (1910) as his favorite moments in the festival's history. [ 05 April 2006 ]

Films of Sergei Parajanov, Alejandro Jodorowsky and Andrei Tarkovsky inspired the lyrics of the band Agalloch according to their vocalist and guitarist John Haughm. The CD is is called “Ashes Against The Grain”. More about Sergei Parajanov's influence can be found here. [ 31 March 2006 ]

Sergei Parajanov's fan Satish Babusenan of India who had written about the "Incident of the Oil Painting" now sent us the picture of it from his town of Thiruvananthapuram. [ 06 February 2006 ]

Our great friend, the photographer Yuri Mechitov, reports from Tbilisi, Georgia that "Very few Tbilissians marked Parajanov birthday at his statue" on January 9, 2006 and he has sent us this photograph. [ 13 January 2006 ]

In Canada, an exhibition of Sergei Parajanov's collages and drawings is on at the Le Musée des Maîtres et Artisans du Québec (MMAQ) until 4 December 2005. It was organized by the Association of the Armenian Women of Canada, in collaboration with Kaspar Derderian.

The First Lady of Ukraine Kateryna Yushchenko presented a special award to the actress Larysa Kadochnikova for: "the incredibly wonderful, simple and infinitely profound role of Marichka in Sergey Paradzhanov’s ingenious movie Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. We thank Mrs. Larysa for making us immensely enjoy this film, each time being astonished at its profoundness, emotional influence and richness of imagery and symbols”, she said. SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS also received an honorary award (forty one years after its premiere).

Tomorrow is Suren Parajanov's birthday! [ 9 November 2005 ]

The President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko tributed Sergei Parajanov in his speech during the opening of the 35th Molodist Film Festival in Kiev. Roman Polanski was in attendance. Was Emmanuelle Seigner?

The great Atom Egoyan's latest picture, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, is a very sexy and exceptionally clever murder mystery (clever is Egoyan's trademark) so watch the film this weekend, we recomend it, highly!

Aram Saroyan, a distinguished writer and the son of Pulitzer and Oscar winner William Saroyan, wrote a wonderful new play, AT THE BEACH HOUSE, which we liked very much and also recommend. It is now playing at the Lost Studio in Los Angeles. [ 24 October 2005 ]

The President of Finland Tarja Halonen is to visit the Parajanov Museum during her trip to Armenia. It's a great honor! We'd be curious to know how Sergei Parajanov's museum was chosen instead of, say, the Matenadaran Museum.

The 93 year old Michelangelo Antonioni received sensational standing ovations at the LACMA Museum in Los Angeles, when he appeared there on 17 September after the screening of his THE GAZE OF MICHELANGELO and BEING WITH ANTONIONI by his lovely wife Enrica Fico Antonioni. The event was attended by Mikhail Vartanov.

Sir Paul McCartney used the Armenian instrument duduk on his new record "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard". The song is called "Jenny Wren" and duduk is interestingly played by Pedro Eustache. Of course, Macca should have invited the virtuoso Djivan Gasparyan but maybe the "cute Beatle" hasn't met him yet... Duduk is constantly used in Hollywood blockbusters and can also be heard in Sergei Parajanov's SAYAT NOVA.

In England, the Leeds Film Quarter will show SAYAT NOVA on the 5th of October and SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS on the 10th. Then on 26th of November they're screening the LEGEND OF SURAM FORTRESS and ASHIK KERIB. [ 27 September 2005 ]

In New York, the Anthology Film Archives will screen Sergei Parajanov's COLOR OF POMEGRANATE on 10 Aug 2005 at 7:00pm and SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS at 9:00pm. Incidentally, 10 years ago, the Anthology Film Archives had arranged a private showing of Vartanov's PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING for the legendary Allen Ginsberg who shed a tear at the screening.

In Armenia, during the recent film festival, the Afgan filmmaker Siddiq Barmak said: "Afghans know Armenia mainly thanks to the great Parajanov". The famous Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami added: "I am in Armenia for a few days, but I already feel the rhythm of Armenia’s life that resembles the inner rhythm of Paradjanov’s films". The festival's openning film MARIAM was directed by Edgar Baghdasarian who had participated in the making of Vartanov's PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING which screened before the festival. Responding to all the attention from the press, Vartanov said in an interview: "In the past 30 days I've been on TV and in newspapers overwhelmingly more than during the combined 30 years when I lived here". [ 05 August 2005 ]

In Moscow, the most recent Golden St. George Award-winning film COSMIC DREAMS ("Kosmos kak predchuvstvie") by Aleksei Uchitel was cinematographed by Yuri Klimenko who had lensed Sergei Parajanov's LEGEND OF THE SURAM FORTRESS 21 years ago. [ 10 July 2005 ]

In Armenia, an exclusive screening of PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING has been arranged for the Armenian elite at the capital's prestige Moskva Theater, on 15 June 2005 at 7:00PM. Mikhail Vartanov's influential picture won the first and the only Russian Academy Award for a film made in Armenia and will now return home after more than a 10 year absence. [ 10 June 2005 ]

In St. Petersburg, Russia, the State Ethnography Museum will hold a month long exhibition of 60 artworks by Sergei Parajanov from 8 June to 8 July. [ 20 May 2005 ]

"...Thank you for your magnificent PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING ...", writes Antti Alanen, the Head of Programming at the Finnish Film Archive. "In the screenings which I attended the audience was deeply moved by the beauty and the tragedy of your film..."

Mikhail Vartanov will attend the LA premiere of Kira Muratova's THE TUNER on 3 April 2005, the opening night of the 3rd Annual Russian Nights International Film Festival in West Hollywood at the Pacific Design Center on Melrose Avenue. Sergei Parajanov highly admired Kira Muratova's cinema. Her latest film THE TUNER (Nastroyshchik, 2004) was cinematographed by Mikhail Vartanov's VGIK classmate Gennadi Karyuk. The star of the film, famous Russian actress Alla Demidova, was a big fan of Sergei Paradjanov and she was also in Andrei Tarkovsky's 1975 MIRROR (Zerkalo). Alla Demidova might be introducing Kira Muratova's black and white film which was produced by Sergei Chliyants.

In England, Cambridge Arts Picture House screens Sergei Paradjanov's 1964 SHADOWS OF OUR FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS on 3 April 2005 at 8:30pm.

In France, the 14th Festivial Du Film Court Pantin/Seine-Saint-Denis will screen Artavazd Pelechian's 1975 SEASONS on 16 April 2005 at 9:00pm. The film which Mikhail Vartanov cinematographed was also shown on 7 March 2005 at the Emirates Film Competition courtesy of presenter Salah Sermini. [ 01 April 2005 ]

In Helsinki, the Finnish Film Archive screens SAYAT NOVA and PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING on 15 and 23 March 2005. Atom Egoyan's CALENDAR and ARARAT will be shown on 16, 19 and 26 March. Henri Verneuil's MOTHER (Mayrig) will be screened on 17 and 26 March. The latter 2 films are the most important narrative pictures about the 1915 Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the government of Turkey. Vartanov's Russian Academy Award-winning PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING (PARADZHANOVIN VIIMEINEN KEVÄT) is the only documentary film in the program and it is also the first time Paradjanov's, Vartanov's, Egoyan's and Verneuil's works are projected concurrently. Special thanks to Antti Alanen for showing all the films and to the screenings initiator the Finnish Lutheran Church. [ 11 March 2005 ]

The Hollywood Reporter wrote this week that Timur Bekmambetov's Russian blockbuster the NIGHT WATCH (2004) "possesses everything today's audiences…want: incessant noise; jumpy editing; torrential music…imagine yourself trapped inside a 2 hour video game…" Okay, while we don't like being trapped inside video games and wish today's audiences instead preferred everything Sergei Parajanov made, we'll still "watch" the above film the very first "night" it's in LA. Also , the Honorary Academy Award will be presented Sunday to Sidney Lumet (12 ANGRY MEN, 1957), who in the beginning of his career was directed by Robert Lewis at the Actors Studio in New York in the first play by William Saroyan (who in 1944 won an Oscar and is the subject of Mikhail Vartanov's 1977 documentary). Our other Oscar thoughts are that it unfortunately seems that Richard Linklater's unforgettable BEFORE SUNSET (2004) with Julie Delpy is a long shot for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar but we'd be thrilled to see the great Martin Scorsese win for the Best Director. [ 26 February 2005 ]

In New York, the Century Center for the Performing Arts will premiere a play, "Beast on the Moon", a love story set in early 20th century America -- after the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the government of Turkey. It received 'Best Play' award in Paris and Buenos Ayres and was directed by Larry Moss, written by Richard Kalinoski. In New York, it opens with Tony-award nominated actor Louis Zorich, Omar Metwally, Lena Georgas and Matt Borish. Other important works about the Armenian Genocide are Peter Balakian's best selling book "The Burning Tigris", the song P.L.U.C.K of the platinum selling rock band System Of A Down and Atom Egoyan's Cannes Film Festival 'Out of Competition' entry, the astonishingly clever film in film, ARARAT. [ 21 February 2005 ]

In Athens, the Trianon Film Center will screen Sergei Parajanov's 1964 SHADOWS OF OUR FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS ("Tini zabutykh predkiv")on the 26th of February 2005, reports Greece's International English newspaper Kathimerini. The only correction we have is that the film isn't set in an Armenian village but in Ukraine. [ 12 February 2005 ]

The Los Angles Times, which published a superb review of Vartanov's PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING, wrote a few days ago the following about Ardak Amirkulov's THE FALL OF ORTRAR: "...exotic in look and feel as a Sergei Paradjanov fable ...rambunctious and savagely humorous...exceedingly hard to track...assumes the viewer is up to speed on medieval Central Asian history..." (We couldn't find the word "rambunctions" in the Oxford dictionary but the film can be seen in Santa Monica, California at the Aero Theater on 9 February 2005 and in Hollywood, California at the Egyptian Theater on 10 February 2005, both at 7:30pm, courtesy of American Cinematheque). The above is another example of Sergei Parajanov's influence in world cinema. [ 05 February 2005 ]

In Warsaw, Poland, Centre for Contemporary Art will screen the 1975 documentary SEASONS, directed by Artavazd Peleshyan and cinematographed by Mikhail Vartanov, during an exhibition that opens on the 7th of February 2005 under the patronage of Dr. Ashot Hovakimian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia, in co-operation with the Kunsthalle, Vienna and curator Ewa Gorzadek. [ 04 February 2005 ]

In London, Cine Lumiere at Institut Francais will screen Sergei Paradjanov's THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATE(s)(1968) on the 15th of February at 8:30pm. Artavazd Pelechian's several films (including the 1975 documentary SEASONS, which was cinematographed by Mikhail Vartanov) will be shown on the 13th of February at 7:30pm. The screenings are a part of the London Armenian Film Festival, which also screens Atom Egoyan's work, who moderates "A marriage of minds: Directors and Cinematographers" on January 28, 2005 at 6:30 PM in Toronto, Canada. Incidentally, Atom Egoyan and Ian Balfour edited a book called "Subtitles: On the Foreignness of Film" - taking subtitles as their point of departure, the 32 contributors to this unique collection consider translation, foreignness, and otherness in film culture. [ 24 January 2005 ]

Hollywood composer Christophe Beck , who wrote the soundtrack of the new Jennifer Garner starrer ELEKTRA (2005) said the follwing to the the Monsters & Critics publication: "I do feature the Armenian wood instrument called the "duduk" which is kind of popular in film scores these days. It's a very mournful sound... very soulful. I used it in a bit more of a classical context as opposed to the more traditionally ethnic context that the instrument is used in. It's a really nice color". (It's in the very last track... the first instrument that plays the melody in the last track 'Elektra's Second Life'). Parajanov.com readers probably know that "duduk" has been used a countless number of times not only in Armenian films, such as Sergei Parajanov's masterpiece SAYAT NOVA (1968), but also in Hollywood, in such movies as the Oscar-winning GLADIATOR (2000) and Robert De Niro starrer RONIN (1998) - in both pictures the duduk is played by the the master of the instrument Djivan Gasparian. [ 21 January 2005 ]

Today is Sergei Parajanov's 81st Anniversary. Many would arrive to his legendary flat on Kote Meskhi 7 in Tbilisi, Georgia, USSR for the occassion. As we do every year now, invite lots of folks to your homes and celebrate Maestro's birthday by watching his films: "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", "The Colour of Pomegranate(s)", "The Legend of Suram Fortress" and "Ashik Kerib"... [ 09 January 2005 ]

Christie's in London sold the "St. Isaac's on a Frosty Day", by Armenian-Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900), the subject of "AIVAZOVSKY AND ARMENIA" documentary, cinematographed by Mikhail Vartanov in 1983 in Feodosia, Crimea, Ukraine (USSR). The painting was sold last Tuesday for $2.1 million to an anonymous buyer and became a record for a 19th-century Russian work at auction. Across the ocean, on Thursday, in Beverly Hills, Christie's opened an exhibition of paintings by Maro Gorky, the daughter of the pioneer of the Abstract Expressionism, the Armenian-American painter Arshile Gorky (1904 - 1948) - one of the characters of Atom Egoyan's astonishingly clever film-in-film "ARARAT". Incidentally, Maro Gorky's villa in Tuscany, Italy was featured in Bernardo Bertolucci's "STEALING BEAUTY". [ 03 December 2004 ]

Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston is screening Sergei Parajanov's SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS on Friday, 19 November 2004 at 8pm, reports Branka Bogdanov. Also, Albania's Tirana International Film Festival will tribute Sergei Parajanov with a retrospective from the 4th to the 10th of December. [ 15 November 2004 ]

PARAJANOV MONUMENT was opened in Tbilisi, Georgia on the 6th of November 2004, reports our great friend Yuri Mechitov. The little square in the Old Tbilisi, near Chardin street will be named after Sergei Parajanov!!! The sculpture created by a young Georgian-Italian artist, Vazha Mikaberidze, was based on the photograph by Yuri Mechitov. [ 8 November 2004 ]

Assassinated helmer Theo Van Gogh's close friend, the Dutch filmmaker Maartje Nevejan, writes to us from Amsterdam that the memorial service will be held tomorrow. The great-great-grandson of Vincent Van Gogh's brother was reportedly killed for his documentary SUBMISSION about the abuse of a woman in Holland. Our condolences to Theo Van Gogh's family and friends, especially Maartje Nevejan who we recently met at the screening of PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING [ 07 November 2004 ]

STANDING OVATIONS STORMED HOLLYWOOD's most prestigious movie venue, when the final frame of PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING slowly disappeared from the screen of the state-of-the-art ArcLight Cinemas, and the tearful crowd gave a gift of boisterous applause to the Russian Academy Award winner Mikhail Vartanov, who remarked: "... I wish to pass this truly phenomenal gift on to Sergei Parajanov, on the occasion of his 80th Anniversary, since the outstanding response of this audience is yet another wonderful recognition of the genius of the great Maestro..." [view pictures]

Guests included the Consul General of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the two time National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Award recipient Aram Saroyan (son of Pulitzer/Oscar winner William Saroyan and the stepson of Walter Matthau), representatives of Warner Brothers Studios, Lions Gate Films, Sony Pictures Studios, Movieline Hollywood Life Magazine, artists, students, filmmakers, Arina Gasanova, Maartje Nevejan, Aaron Iceman, Evrika Zatikyan, Henry Turner - plus the youngest and the oldest persons that ever watched the film: screenwriter Martin Vartanov's 2 month old niece and the 96 year old Milan Herzog -- all, after the screening, diluted the packed theater's hall and praised the creators of PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING. [view pictures]

Before the screening Martin Vartanov entertained the crowd with his cheerfully received jokes that (after the recent Parajanov retrospectives in Prague, Seoul, Hollywood and Berlin) have become an anticipated prelude to the ultra colorful speeches of Mikhail Vartanov, which yesterday included riveting episodes of his meetings with the legendary Andrei Tarkovsky and Sergei Parajanov. [view pictures]

And now we invite our visitors to read the just received "Incident of the Oil Painting" by Sergei Paradjanov fan Satish Babusenan of India. [11 October 2004]

Hollywood’s top ArcLight Cinemas and the 7th Annual Arpa International Film Festival (attended last year by the Grammy winner Alanis Morissette and Oscar nominated director Atom Egoyan) is screening the influential documentary PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING on Sunday, 10 October 2004, at 12:15 pm. Meet the Russian Academy Award-winning film director Mikhail Vartanov and screenwriter Martin Vartanov as the duo tributes Maestro Sergei Parajanov’s 80th Anniversary with their humorous speech followed by the screening. (Tickets may be obtained at the theater’s box office or at arclightcinemas.com). [ 24 September 2004 ]

A very short new essay has been published today, which finds that various filmmakers from India and Iran to France and Hollywood have been directly and indirectly influenced by cinema of Sergei Parajanov. [ 01 August 2004 ]

In 1924, Amo Bek-Nazarov established Armenfilm studios and a documentary SOVIET ARMENIA (1924) was produced. The 80th anniversary of the founding of country’s cinema was marked by the 1st annual Golden Apricot International Film Festival, which also celebrated the anniversaries of genius Sergei Parajanov and of French Legion of Honour award recipient Charles Aznavour who starred in Francois Truffaut’s SHOOT THE PIANIST (1960) and Atom Egoyan’s ARARAT (2002) – winner of the Grand Prix for Best Film at this year’s inaugural event! Parajanov.com staff is delighted to learn of the launch of the much-needed cinematic event in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan and we are proud of jury’s decision to award Egoyan’s astonishingly clever film-in-film about the Genocide of 1.5 million Christians murdered by the Turkish government during the late 19th – early 20th centuries. [ 07 July 2004 ]

Apparently, the Museum of Cinema (Musei Kino) in Moscow may be forced to close. Being present at a brief 2003 conversation between the museum’s director Naum Kleijman and director Mikhail Vartanov, we recall Mr. Kleijman mentioning that the Musei Kino has a few but important Sergei Parajanov items (handwritten script of SAYAT NOVA), as well as prints of Artavazd Peleshian’s films. You may help keep the Museum open - please read the text here and protest here. [10 June 2004 ]

Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Palm Award (Palme d’Or) was won by Michael Moore for FARENHEIT 9/11, only the 2nd documentary film, since Jacques Cousteau’s 1956 documentary picture THE SILENT WORLD, to receive the great festival’s top honor in competition with narrative films. While many critics, including the genius film director Jean Luc Godard, thought that FARENHEIT 9/11 has received a lot of attention due to its political rather than cinematic value, one fact is nevertheless obvious – Moore’s award demonstrates again that documentary cinema is an equal of the narrative cinema. Our readers may remember that exactly a year ago, Mikhail Vartanov’s documentary film PARADJANOV: THE LAST SPRING won the Golden Palm Award, the highest honor of the Beverly Hills Film Festival also for Best Picture not for Best Documentary, which reiterates the above point. Motion Pictures were perfected by Auguste and Louis Lumiere in 1895 and in those first years cinema was mainly shot in a documentary style. [ 22 May 2004 ]

First movie made in Hollywood, IN OLD CALIFORNIA by D.W. Griffith, dates back to 1910. Today, 94 years later, a monument at film’s principal shooting location, on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, was opened by the Beverly Hills Film Festival and the Biograph Company. PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING director Mikhail Vartanov and screenwriter Martin Vartanov, winners of 2003 Beverly Hills Film Festival’s Golden Palm Award, attended the ceremony of the unveiling of this new Hollywood landmark and later appeared at the opening of 2004 Beverly Hills Film Festival for the rare screening of D.W. Griffith’s silent classic IN OLD CALIFORNIA, which was shown publicly for the first time since 1910. Beverly Hills Film Festival, last year, was attended by MATRIX star Carrie-Anne Moss and HARRY POTTER star Gary Oldman. [ 06 May 2004 ]

System Of A Down is playing Souls 2004 benefit concert on the 24th of April, commemorating the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide during which 1.5 million Armenians were horrifically murdered by the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The concert will raise awareness in the United States about the forgotten Armenian Genocide and condemn the government of Turkey for continually conspiring against the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide here. It is perhaps coincidental but significant that, the historic sold out performance of the platinum-selling and Billboard chart-topping rock band, is taking place at the Greek Theater. System Of A Down music was featured in ARARAT, a fascinating motion picture about the Armenian Genocide by Oscar nominated director Atom Egoyan, a great fan of Maestro Parajanov. Today, Parajanov.com joins the world in praying and remembering the innocent victims of the first Genocide of the 20th century. [ 24 April 2004 ]

Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood is the home to Stas Namin Center's fabulous weeklong Exhibition of Russian Cinema, Theater, Poetry, Arts and Fashion from 16th to the 23rd of April 2004. One only screening of Sergei Parajanov's legendary ASHIK KERIB is expected to be introduced by Mikhail Vartanov and Levani Outchaneichvili. Last year's inaugural Russian International Film Festival (RIFF) in Hollywood, organized by SNC and AFI at ArcLight Cinemas was an absolute success and was attended by Leonardo DiCaprio and George DiCaprio, Peter Bogdanovich, William Friedkin, Andrei Konchalovsky, Boris Grebenshchikov, Mikhail Vartanov and others -- greetings were received from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Valenti, Harvey Weinstein and Liv Tyler. This year, renowned poet Andrei Voznesensky and director Vladimir Khotinenko (72 METERS) will present festival's Tatlin Tower Award to Golden Globe Award winning actresses Sharon Stone and Nastassja Kinski. Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman and famous writer Ray Bradbury will be awarded on the closing night of the festival which also includes screenings of Russian cinema classics - Mayakovsky's YOUNG LADY AND A HOOLIGAN, Bauer's AFTER DEATH, Pudovkin's MOTHER, Dovzhenko's AIRCITY, Petrov's STORM, student film GAROON by P. Fetisov and guest film AN AMERICAN RHAPSODY by Eva Gardos. "Russian Nights" tickets and information (310) 712-2588 and 866.468.3399. (323) 463.7224, (323) 937.5530, (323) 465.0093. [7 April 2004 ]

Parajanov Week starts in Moscow today. A week of extensive events will start in the Russian capital to commemorate Maestro’s 80th birthday. The week will begin with an exhibit of items from the Parajanov Museum, including his unique art collages, posters from his films and photographs by Yuri Mechitov. The event will be attended by many prominent Armenian, Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian figures. [23 March 2004]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born today, 27 January, in 1756. [ 27 January 2004 ]

9 January 2004 marked the 80th Anniversary of Sergei Parajanov’s birth which was celebrated at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum that presently exhibits collages and drawings created by Parajanov. Museum’s Jan-Christopher Horak opened the evening which included the appearances of the Consul General of the Republic of Armenia, of Parajanov Museum curator, of Archbishop Hovnan Derderian’s representative, as well as the reading of the letter from Parajanov’s family, followed by the speech of actor Levani Outchaneichvili of Parajanov’s LEGEND OF SURAM FORTRESS, and continued with the speech of the great photographer Yuri Mechitov who delivered the regards of Sofiko Chiaureli from Tbilisi, Georgia and the evening beautifully concluded with the marvelous speech of Mikhail Vartanov director of PARAJANOV: THE LAST SPRING. Celebration carries on every Sunday with Parajanov screenings and the complimenting exhibit at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. [ 09 January 2004] .

Czech friends of PARAJANOV.com have created a Sergej Paradzanov site in the Czech language, on the 9th of January, to tribute Maestro on his birthday. [09 January 2004 ]

The Los Angeles Times, today, has published an exceptional review of Mikhail Vartanov’s award-winning film PARADJANOV: THE LAST SPRING. (Page e22 calendar -- or page D5 calendar in the national version of the newspaper) [ 01 January 2004] .