Today, 9 January marks the 96th birthday anniversary of prominent Soviet filmmaker of Armenian descent Sergei Parajanov.
Sergei Parajanov or Paradjanov (born Sarkis Paradjanian) was one of the 20th century's greatest film directors, who made significant contribution to Ukrainian, Armenian and Georgian cinema. Born in 1924 in Tbilisi, Georgia, to an Armenian family, his work reflected the ethnic diversity of the Caucusus where he was raised.
His first major work was Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964), which earned him an international reputation for its rich use of costume and color, and its whimsical portrayal of rural life. Possibly his greatest work, The Color of Pomegranates (1969), described the life of the Armenian poet Sayat Nova. The film angered the Soviet authorities, who claimed that it evoked nationalist sentiment.
Claiming that Parajanov promoted homosexuality, the government arrested him in 1973 and sentenced him to five years in a labor camp. A large number of prominent artists, writers and filmmakers protested ...
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