SERGEI PARADJANOV FESTIVAL LAUNCHES IN UK

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.02.2010 17:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Sergei Paradjanov Festival in London and Bristol
was opened with Yuri Mechitov’s photographic exhibition at the National
Theatre Monday, February 22.

The exhibition is composed of rarely seen photographs taken by
Georgian photographer Yuri Mechitov during his 11 year friendship
with the director.

The Sergei Paradjanov Festival in London and Bristol is the first
major celebration of the legendary artist and filmmaker whose talent
transcends religious and political boarders, drawing on the cultural
traditions of Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Russia. The Festival aims
to present the life and works of Sergei Paradjanov to UK audiences
through a series of diverse events that include: a film season;
a moving image installation; a symposium and a workshop at the
BFI Southbank; a photographic exhibition at the National Theatre;
screenings and talks at Pushkin House; a concert at St. Yeghiche
Armenian Church; a film retrospective at Arnolfini (Bristol); and a
photographic exhibition at The Bristol Gallery.

"The films of Sergei Paradjanov have always captivated me with
their unique cinematic language and the poetic strength of their
imagination. For me, Paradjanov is like a slap in the face to banality,
harshness, self-interest and general uniformity," festival organiser
Layla Alexander-Garrett said.

The festival will last till March 28.

Sergei Paradjanov (1924-1990) is one of the 20th century’s greatest
masters of cinema. An Armenian born in Georgia, Paradjanov studied film
in Moscow, worked in Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia. He started making
films in 1954 and is celebrated for his poetic and visionary films
including The Colour of Pomegranates (1968) and Ashik Kerib (1988).

A winner of British Academy Award for the "Shadows of Forgotten
Ancestors", Paradjanov was a constant target of Soviet authorities;
deprived of the opportunity to make films for fifteen years, five
of which were spent in hard labour camps, he found the most vibrant
means of expressing his talent through drawings, collages and writing.