Mikhail Vartanov
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| Mikhail Vartanov Михаил Вартанов Միքայել Վարդանով |
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| Born | February 21, 1937 Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (now Russian Federation), USSR |
| Occupation | Director, cinematographer, screenwriter, art critic |
| Official website | |
Mikhail Vartanov (Russian: Михаил Вартанов, Armenian: Միխայիլ Վարդանով, Armenian: Միքայել Վարդանով, French: Mikhaïl Vartanov b. February 21, 1937, RSFSR, Soviet Union, now Russian Federation) is a Russo-Armenian film director and writer.
Vartanov graduated from the Russian state film school VGIK in 1966. He began his documentary oeuvre with the wordless The Color of Armenian Land (1969), featuring the world famous behind-the-scenes episodes of Sergei Parajanov's landmark The Color of Pomegranates (originally released under the title Sayat Nova in 1968). Vartanov's correspondence with the imprisoned Parajanov and his outspoken criticism of Armenia's corrupt film industry resulted in his being blacklisted shortly thereafter. Vartanov's films and screenplays were suppressed, unmentioned by the press, and blocked from submission to foreign film festivals. In those years, Vartanov exquisitely lensed Artavazd Peleshian's classic Seasons of the Year (1975) and Gennadi Melkonian's hit The Mulberry Tree (1979).
In the 1980s, Vartanov's writings were translated into several languages and published worldwide including the prestigious Cahiers du Cinéma in Paris. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, Vartanov directed the trilogy Erased Faces (1987), Minas: A Requiem (1989) and his masterpiece Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992). In the following decade, Vartanov conducted film and photo experiments in his Hollywood apartment, which can be seen in Erased Faces II by Martin Vartanov, with whom he is producing Evrika, a film based on the method they call "direction of undirected action." Vartanov's films produced from 1960s to 1989 have not been shown to the general public and still remain in Armenian archives still under the control of his suppressors and their often unsuspecting or indifferent sympathizers.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | English title | Original title | Romanization | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | The Color of Armenian Land | (Russian) Цвет Армянской Земли | Tsvet armyanskoy zemli | Banned debut film. Behind the scenes of Sergei Paradjanov's Color of Pomegrantes. |
| 1971 | Autumn Pastoral | (Russian) Осенчяя пастораль | Osenn'yaya pastoral' | Written by Artavazd Peleshian. Shelved. |
| 1972 | And So Every Day | (Russian) И так каждый день | I tak kazhdiy dyen' | Scored by Tigran Mansurian. Vartanov narrates for the first time. Black & white. Shelved. |
| 1974 | Kadjaran | (Russian) Каджаран | Kajaran' | Unfinished. Vartanov fired. |
| 1975 (cinematograper) | Seasons of the Year | (Russian) Bремена Года | Vremena Goda' | Directed by Artavazd Peleshian, lensed by Vartanov. |
| 1979 (cinematographer) | The Mulberry Tree | (Russian) Шелковица | Shelkovitsa' | Directed by Gennadi Melkonian, lensed by Vartanov. |
| 1984 | Roots | (Russian) Корни | Korni' | First directing work in 10 years. A project deemed unfilmable by all filmmakers at Armenfilm (Armenia) |
| 1987 | Erased Faces | (Armenian) Ջնջվաց դեմքեր | Jenjevatz demker' | Documentary trilogy, part I. |
| 1989 | Minas: A Requiem | (Armenian) Մինաս. ռեկվիէմ | Minas. rekviem' | Documentary trilogy, part II |
| 1992 | Paradjanov: The Last Spring | (English) Parajanov: The Confession | Documentary trilogy, part III |
[edit] External links
- Mikhail Vartanov at Parajanov.com
- Mikhail Vartanov page from Internet Movie Database
- Mikhail Vartanov on Vanity Fair
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