# Sergei Parajanov

Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
Parajanov was born to ethnic Armenians in Georgia. He studied in Russia at Moscow's Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography under the tutelage of Ukrainian filmmakers Igor Savchenko and Oleksandr Dovzhenko, and began his career as professional film director in 1954. Parajanov became increasingly disenchanted of his films as well as the state sanctioned art style of socialist realism, prominent throughout the Soviet Union. His film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, his first major work which diverged from socialist realism, and gave him international acclaim. He would later disown and proclaim his films made before 1965 as "garbage." Parajanov subsequently directed The Color of Pomegranates, which was met with widespread acclaim among filmmakers, and is often considered one of the greatest films ever made.
Parajanov was a closeted bisexual, which exposed him to increased legal scrutiny from Soviet authorities over his personal life, his films, and political involvement surrounding Ukrainian nationalism. Nearly all of his film projects from 1965 to 1973 were banned by the Soviet film administrations, many without discussion.

## Biography

Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov was born to artistically inclined ethnic Armenians Iosif Parajanov and Siranush Bejanova on January 9, 1924, in Tiflis, Georgia, then part of the Soviet Union. Iosif was a merchant who owned an antique shop, trading jewelry and valuables. Due to the Soviet Union's ban on financial speculation, Iosif's business was frequently subjected to arbitrary searches by authorities, who often raided his business and seized many of his valuables. Because it was impossible for his father to get his trading business legalised, a young Parajanov was often forced to swallow small jewelry pieces and defecate them once authorities withdrew from their search. Parajanov attended a local railway college before running away to attend the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. He was later transferred to the Moscow Conservatory in 1945, where he studied alongside soprano Nina Dorliak. Parajanov left the conservatory to enrol at the directing department at the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography; he studied under the tutelage of directors Igor Savchenko and Alexander Dovzhenko.
Parajanov was a closeted bisexual In 1948, he was arrested and charged with illegal homosexual acts with MGB officer Nikolai Mikava in Tbilisi. He was sentenced to five years in prison and released under an amnesty after three months. In video interviews, friends and relatives contest the truthfulness of anything Parajanov was charged with; they believe his sentencing was procured through a kangaroo court due to his tendency for political retaliation and rebellious views.
In 1950, Parajanov married Nigyar Kerimova, who came from a Muslim Tatar family, in Moscow. After Nigyar converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, she was murdered by her relatives, who disapproved of the marriage. Parajanov subsequently moved to Kiev, Ukraine, where he produced a few Russian and Ukrainian language documentaries (Dumka, Golden Hands, Natalia Uzhvy) and a handful of narrative films: Andriesh, The Top Guy, Ukrainian Rhapsody, and Flower on the Stone. He became fluent in Ukrainian and married Svitlana Ivanivna Shcherbatiuk (1938–2020) in 1956. She gave birth to his son Suran (d. 2021) in 1958
In a 1988 interview, he stated, "Everyone knows that I have three motherlands. I was born in Georgia, worked in Ukraine and I'm going to die in Armenia."

### Break from Socialist Realism

Andrey Tarkovsky's first film, Ivan's Childhood, had an enormous impact on Parajanov's self-discovery as a filmmaker. Later the influence became mutual, and he and Tarkovsky became close friends. Another influence was Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, whom Parajanov would later describe as "like a God" to him and a director of "majestic style". In 1965 Parajanov abandoned socialist realism and directed the poetic Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, his first film over which he had complete creative control. It won numerous international awards well received by the Soviet authorities, who praised the film for "conveying the poetic quality and philosophical depth of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky’s tale through the language of cinema," and called it "a brilliant creative success of the Dovzhenko film studio." Authorities allowed the release the film with its original Ukrainian soundtrack intact, rather than redub the dialogue into Russian for Soviet-wide release, in order to preserve its Ukrainian integrity. (Russian dubbing was standard practice at that time for non-Russian Soviet films when they were distributed outside the republic of origin.)
In 1969, Parajanov moved to Armenia to work on his next film; this was the first time he had visited the country and instilled in him the influence to direct Sayat Nova. It was shot under relatively poor conditions and had a very small budget. Unlike Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Sayat Nova was not well received by Soviet authorities, who were quick to intervene and ban the film for its allegedly inflammatory content and lack of socialist realism. Parajanov re-edited the film and renamed it The Color of Pomegranates.

### Imprisonment, career hiatus, and other artistic ambitions

Since the early 1960's, Parajanov increasingly became the subject of attention by the KGB, for a variety of political activities related to his affinity towards Ukrainian nationalism. He was an active protester following the 1965–1966 Ukrainian purge. In 1969 a report by the Committee for State Security to the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Communist party indicated their belief that Parajanov is a negative influence on his younger colleagues, as well as a key purveyor of ideologically harmful opinion. He was also deemed as someone with a desire to defect if he were to travel abroad.
In December 1973, he was arrested in Kyiv, and was accused of homosexuality, sodomy, and propagation of pornography. He was sentenced to five years in a hard labour camp. Three days before Parajanov was due to be sentenced, his friend Andrei Tarkovsky wrote a letter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, asserting that "In the last ten years Sergei Parajanov has made only two films: Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors and The Colour of Pomegranates. They have influenced cinema first in Ukraine, second in this country as a whole, and third in the world at large. Artistically, there are few people in the entire world who could replace Paradanov. He is guilty – guilty of his solitude. We are guilty of not thinking of him daily and of failing to discover the significance of a master." An eclectic group of artists, actors, filmmakers and activists protested on behalf of Parajanov, calling for his immediate release. Among them were Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Leonid Gaidai, Eldar Ryazanov, Yves Saint Laurent, Marcello Mastroianni, Françoise Sagan, Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Mikhail Vartanov, and Andrei Tarkovsky.
Parajanov served four years out of his five-year sentence, and later credited his early release to the efforts made by the French Surrealist poet and novelist Louis Aragon, Aragon's wife Elsa Triolet, and the American writer John Updike. His early release was authorized by Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, presumably as a result of Brezhnev's meeting with Aragon and Triolet at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. When asked by Brezhnev if he could be of any assistance, Aragon requested the release of Parajanov, which was finalized by December 1977.
While he was incarcerated, Parajanov produced a large number of miniature doll-like sculptures (some of which were lost) and some 800 drawings and collages, many of which were later displayed in Yerevan at the Sergei Parajanov Museum, where they are now permanently located. His efforts in the camp were repeatedly compromised by prison guards, who deprived him of materials and called him mad, their cruelty only subsiding after a statement from Moscow admitting that "the director is very talented." After his return from prison to Tbilisi, the close watch of the Soviet authorities prevented Parajanov from continuing his cinematic pursuits and compelled him towards other artistic outlets he had nurtured during his time in prison. He crafted extraordinarily intricate collages, created a large collection of abstract drawings and pursued numerous other avenues of non-cinematic art, sewing more dolls and some whimsical suits.
In February 1982 Parajanov was once again arrested on charges of bribery, which happened to coincide with his return to Moscow for the premiere of a play commemorating Vladimir Vysotsky at the Taganka Theatre, he was released in less than a year, with his health seriously weakened.

### Short return to cinema

In 1985, the slow thaw within the Soviet Union spurred Parajanov to resume his passion for cinema. With the encouragement of various Georgian intellectuals, he directed the multi-award-winning film The Legend of Suram Fortress, along with Dodo Abashidze, based on a novella by Daniel Chonkadze. This was his first return to cinema since Sayat-Nova fifteen years earlier.
In 1988, Parajanov and Abashidze directed Ashik Kerib, based on a story by Mikhail Lermontov. It is the story of a wandering minstrel, set in the Azerbaijani culture. Parajanov dedicated the film to his close friend Andrei Tarkovsky and "to all the children of the world".

### Death

Parajanov died of lung cancer in Yerevan, Armenia on July 20, 1990, aged 66. His final work, The Confession, was left unfinished. It survives in its original negative as Parajanov: The Last Spring, created by his close friend Mikhail Vartanov in 1992. Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra, Francesco Rosi, Alberto Moravia, Giulietta Masina, Marcello Mastroianni and Bernardo Bertolucci were among those who publicly mourned his death. They sent a telegram to Russia with the following statement: "The world of cinema has lost a magician. Parajanov’s fantasy will forever fascinate and bring joy to the people of the world…”.

## Legacy

Parajanov's films are ranked among the greatest films of all time by Sight & Sound. He won prizes at Mar del Plata Film Festival, Istanbul International Film Festival, Nika Awards, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Sitges - Catalan International Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival and others. A comprehensive retrospective in the UK took place in 2010 at BFI Southbank. The retrospective was curated by Layla Alexander-Garrett and the Parajanov specialist Elisabetta Fabrizi who commissioned a Parajanov inspired new commission in the BFI Gallery by the contemporary artist Matt Collishaw ('Retrospectre'). A symposium was dedicated to Parajanov's work, bringing together experts to discuss and celebrate the director's contribution to cinema and art.
Parajanov was highly appreciated by Andrei Tarkovsky himself in the biographical film "Voyage in Time" ("Always with huge gratitude and pleasure I remember the films of Sergei Parajanov, which I love very much. His way of thinking, his paradoxical, poetical... ability to love beauty and the ability to be absolutely free within his own vision"). In the same film Tarkovsky stated that Parajanov is one of his favorite filmmakers.
Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni stated that “The Color of Pomegranates by Parajanov, in my opinion one of the best contemporary film directors, strikes with its perfection of beauty.” Parajanov was also admired by the American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. The French film director Jean-Luc Godard also stated that "In the temple of cinema, there are images, light, and reality. Sergei Parajanov was the master of that temple".
Despite having many admirers of his art, his vision did not attract many followers. "Whoever tries to imitate me is lost", he reportedly said. However, directors such as Theo Angelopoulos, Béla Tarr and Mohsen Makhmalbaf share Parajanov's approach to film as a primarily visual medium rather than as a narrative tool.
The Parajanov-Vartanov Institute was established in Hollywood in 2010 to study, preserve and promote the artistic legacies of Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov.
In 2024, marking the 100th anniversary of Parajanov's birth, Ukrainian film maker Taras Tomenko made the documentary "A Sentimental Journey to the Parajanov Planet". The film premiered internationally at the 40th Warsaw Film Festival where it won the 3rd place in the Audience Award for documentary films.

### References in popular culture

* Parajanov's life story provides (quite loosely) the basis for the 2006 novel Stet by the American author James Chapman.
* Lady Gaga's video for "911" visually references The Color of Pomegranates through much of the video. The film poster also appears on the street scene at the end of the video. Gaga's video presents the film's symbols in her own allegory of pain.
* Madonna's 1995 music video Bedtime Story restages some of the content from the movie (such as the scene of a young child lying in a fetal position on a pentagram on the floor while an adult covers it with a blanket, and another where a naked foot crushes a bunch of grapes lying on an enscribed tablet), among other artistic inspiration depicting dreams and surrealist artwork in the video.
* Nicolas Jaar released, in 2015, the album Pomegranates, intended as an alternative soundtrack for The Color of Pomegranates.
* The Color of Pomegranates also influenced the alternative rock group R.E.M.'s music video for "Losing My Religion".

## Filmography

| Year | English title | Original title | Romanization | Notes |
| 1951 | Moldavian Tale | In Russian: Молдавская сказка In Ukrainian: Moлдавська байка | Moldavskaya skazka Moldavska baika | Graduate short film; lost |
| 1954 | Andriesh | In Russian: Андриеш | Andriesh | Co-directed with Yakov Bazelyan; feature-length remake of Moldavian Tale |
| 1958 | Dumka | In Ukrainian: Думка | Dumka | Documentary |
| 1958 | The First Lad (aka The Top Guy) | In Russian: Первый парень In Ukrainian: Перший пapyбок | Pervyj paren Pershyi parubok | |
| 1959 | Natalya Ushvij | In Russian: Наталия Ужвий | Natalia Uzhvij | Documentary |
| 1960 | Golden Hands | In Russian: Золотые руки | Zolotye ruki | Documentary |
| 1961 | Ukrainian Rhapsody | In Russian: Украинская рапсодия In Ukrainian: Укpaїнськa рaпсодія | Ukrainskaya rapsodiya Ukrainska rapsodiya | |
| 1962 | Flower on the Stone | In Russian: Цветок на камне In Ukrainian: Квітка на камені | Tsvetok na kamne Kvitka na kameni | |
| 1965 | Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors | In Ukrainian: Тіні забутих предків | Tini zabutykh predkiv | |
| 1965 | Kyiv Frescoes [uk] | In Ukrainian: Київські фрески In Russian: Киевские фрески | Kyivski fresky Kievskie freski | Banned during pre-production; 15 minutes of auditions survive |
| 1967 | Hakob Hovnatanian | In Armenian: Հակոբ Հովնաթանյան | Hakob Hovnatanyan | Short film portrait of the 19th century Armenian artist |
| 1968 | Children to Komitas | In Armenian: Երեխաներ Կոմիտասին | Yerekhaner Komitasin | Documentary for UNICEF; lost |
| 1969 | The Color of Pomegranates | In Armenian: Նռան գույնը | Nran guyne | Originally titled at Sayat-Nova |
| 1985 | The Legend of Suram Fortress | In Georgian: ამბავი სურამის ციხისა | Ambavi Suramis tsikhisa | |
| 1985 | Arabesques on the Pirosmani Theme | In Georgian: არაბესკები ფიროსმანის თემაზე In Russian: Арабески на тему Пиросмани | Arabeskebi Pirosmanis temaze Arabeski na temu Pirosmani | Short film portrait of the Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani |
| 1988 | Ashik Kerib | In Georgian: აშიკი ქერიბი In Azerbaijani: Aşıq Qərib | Ashiki Keribi | |
| 1989–1990 | The Confession | In Armenian: Խոստովանանք | Khostovanank | Unfinished; original negative survives in Mikhail Vartanov's Parajanov: The Last Spring |

## Screenplays
### Partially produced screenplays

* Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Тіні забутих предків, 1965, co-written with Ivan Chendei, based on the novelette by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky)
* Kyiv Frescoes (Київські фрески, 1965)
* Sayat Nova (Саят-Нова, 1969, original production screenplay of The Color of Pomegranates)
* The Confession (сповідь, 1969–1989)
* Studies About Vrubel (Этюды о Врубеле, 1989, depiction of Mikhail Vrubel's Kyiv period, co-written and directed by Leonid Osyka)
* Swan Lake: The Zone (Лебедине озеро. Зона, 1989, filmed in 1990, directed by Yuriy Illienko, cinematographer of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors)

### Unproduced screenplays

* The Dormant Palace (Дремлющий дворец, 1969, based on Pushkin's poem The Fountain of Bakhchisaray)
* Intermezzo (1972, based on Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's short story)
* Icarus (Икар, 1972)
* The Golden Edge (Золотой обрез, 1972)
* Ara the Beautiful (Ара Прекрасный, 1972, based on the poem by 20th century Armenian poet Nairi Zaryan about Ara the Beautiful)
* Demon (Демон, 1972, based on Lermontov's eponymous poem)
* The Miracle of Odense (Чудо в Оденсе, 1973, loosely based on the life and works of Hans Christian Andersen)
* David of Sasun (Давид Сасунский, mid-1980s, based on Armenian epic poem David of Sasun)
* The Martyrdom of Shushanik (Мученичество Шушаник, 1987, based on Georgian chronicle by Iakob Tsurtaveli)
* The Treasures of Mount Ararat (Сокровища у горы Арарат)
Among his projects, there were also plans for adapting Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Goethe's Faust, the Old East Slavic poem The Tale of Igor's Campaign, but the film scripts for these were never completed.

## Awards and recognition

* There is a statue of Parajanov in Tbilisi.
* There is a plaque on the wall of Parajanov's childhood home.
* The street where Parajanov grew up, Kote Meskhi street, was renamed Parajanov Street in 2021.
* There is a house museum dedicated to Parajanov in Yerevan, Armenia.
* National Legend of Ukraine (2024).