Film Archive

Paradjanov

East of the West - Competition 2013 / Paradjanov / Ukraine, France, Georgia, Armenia 2013

This unusual biopic illustrates key moments in the life and work of Sergei Paradjanov, the brilliant film director of Armenian descent who was persecuted by the Soviet authorities. In conceiving their artistic stylisation for the film, the directing duo drew on Paradjanov’s unique approach, offering viewers a vivid interpretation of his distinctive view of the world.

Synopsis

Sergei Paradjanov can, without exaggeration, be called one of the most distinctive filmmakers of the 20th century. Indeed, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Andrei Tarkovsky were among the many admirers of his fascinating powers of visualization. This biopic, evincing an original take on the genre, relates some of the key moments in the life and work of this director of genius, a native Armenian who was persecuted by the Soviet authorities. We watch Paradjanov as he makes his ground-breaking films Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and The Colour of Pomegranates, and also during his imprisonment by the communist regime. The filmmakers present Paradjanov as a gifted artist overflowing with ideas, but also as a complicated personality. In creating the film’s artistic vision, the directing duo relies heavily on Paradjanov’s own, unmistakable trademark style, vividly showing the audience his distinctive way of seeing the world.

About the film

95 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Serge Avedikian, Olena Fetisova / Screenplay Olena Fetisova / Dir. of Photography Sergei Mikhalchuk / Music Michel Karsky / Editor Alexandra Strauss, Olexandr Shvets / Producer Olena Fetisova / Production Interfilm Production Studio / Cast Serge Avedikian, Yulia Peresild, Karen Badalov, Zaza Kashibadze / Contact Interfilm Production Studio

About the director

Serge Avedikian (b. 1955, Yerevan) is an actor, screenwriter and director of Armenian origin working in France. His animated film Barking Island won Best Short Film at Cannes in 2010. As an actor he has played leading roles in films by Robert Guédiguian, Henri Verneuil, Miklós Jancsó, and others. Paradjanov, in which he takes the title role, is his feature film debut. Olena Fetisova (b. 1964, Kiev) graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1987. In 2001 she founded Interfilm Production Studio, and she subsequently directed and produced the documentaries If I Were a Saxophone (2004), Roots (2005) and Not Alone at Home (2009). She collaborated on Marianna Kaat’s successful docudrama Pit No.8 (2010). Paradjanov is her feature film directorial debut.