One hundred years of Sergei Parajanov

The anniversaries continue on the Klassiki podcast. Last week we reconsidered Sergei Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible 80 years after its release. This week we’re celebrating a centenary: one hundred years since the birth of the great Sergei Parajanov. An Armenian born in Georgia who found his artistic calling in Ukraine, Parajanov turned Soviet cinema on its head in masterpieces like Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and The Colour of Pomegranates, earning admirers around the world. But his experimental approach to the folk cultures of Ukraine and the Caucasus and his queer identity proved problematic, and he spent time in and out of labour camps, unable to realise his artistic vision.

A century after his birth, his work still provokes vital questions about post-Soviet national identity and self-determination. But what exactly does Parajanov mean today? To answer this question, host Sam Goff speaks with Carmen Gray, a critic and programmer specialising in the cinema of eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Read her beginner’s guide to Parajanov here and watch Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors and Hakob Hovnatanyan on Klassiki now.

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Intro music by Juliet Merchant.