Sergei Parajanov: Centennial Celebration

November 1–22, 2024

This is a centennial tribute to the legendary Armenian poet-filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, who worked across transnational boundaries and struggled against the Soviet authorities, who banned and censored his films. A one-day symposium on November 2 will bring scholars and experts to Berkeley to speak about Parajanov’s life and work.

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  • The Color of Pomegranates

  • Ashik Kerib

  • The Legend of Suram Fortress

  • Sergei Parajanov: The Rebel

  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Events

  • Saturday, November 2, 2:30–5:30 PM

    Sergei Parajanov Symposium

    Five experts join BAMPFA’s Sergei Parajanov: Centennial Celebration to discuss the filmmaker’s multifaceted legacy.

    Cosponsored by BAMPFA; the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES); the Berkeley Armenian Studies Program; and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Past Films

  • The Color of Pomegranates

    Sergei Parajanov
    USSR, 1969

    Digital Restoration

    Friday, November 1 7:00 PM

    This magical work, rich in period music, reimagines Armenian history and culture through the life and writings of its greatest poet. “Watching [it] is like opening a door and walking into another dimension, where time has stopped and beauty has been unleashed” (Martin Scorsese). Shown with two rarely screened short films, Kyiv Frescoes and Hakob Hovnatanyan.

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  • Sergei Parajanov Symposium

    Cosponsored by BAMPFA; the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES); the Berkeley Armenian Studies Program; and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

    Saturday, November 2 2:30—5:30 PM
    Myrna Douzjian, Olga Kim, Harsha Ram, James Steffen, and Patrick Cazals in Conversation

    Five experts join BAMPFA’s Sergei Parajanov: Centennial Celebration to discuss the filmmaker’s multifaceted legacy.

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  • Sergei Parajanov: The Rebel

    Patrick Cazals
    France, 2003
    Sunday, November 3 4:30 PM
    Patrick Cazals in Person

    This insightful portrait of a wounded, but fiercely independent Sergei Parajanov deals with his various talents as a painter, designer, and collage artist. Followed by Parajanov’s rare short film Arabesque on the Pirosmani Theme and Patrick Cazals’s portrait of Parajanov’s muse, Georgian actor Sofiko Chiaureli.

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  • The Color of Pomegranates

    Sergei Parajanov
    USSR, 1969

    Digital Restoration

    Sunday, November 10 12:00 PM

    This magical work, rich in period music, reimagines Armenian history and culture through the life and writings of its greatest poet. “Watching [it] is like opening a door and walking into another dimension, where time has stopped and beauty has been unleashed” (Martin Scorsese). Shown with two rarely screened short films, Kyiv Frescoes and Hakob Hovnatanyan.

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  • Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

    Sergei Parajanov
    USSR, 1965

    Digital Restoration

    Friday, November 15 7:00 PM

    Pagan rituals, demonology, folklore, and legend come to life in Sergei Parajanov’s hypnotic update of a Romeo and Juliet–like tale. “Astonishing . . . one of the supreme works of Soviet cinema” (Jonathan Rosenbaum).

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  • The Legend of Suram Fortress

    Sergei Parajanov, Dodo Abashidze
    USSR, 1985
    Sunday, November 17 2:00 PM
    Introduced by Harsha Ram

    Mixing regional history, political protest, and romantic drama, The Legend of Suram Fortress marked Sergei Parajanov’s return to cinema after enduring fifteen years of Soviet censorship.

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  • Ashik Kerib

    Dodo Abashidze, Sergei Parajanov
    USSR, 1988
    Friday, November 22 7:00 PM

    The film recounts the adventures of a wandering minstrel. “In [Sergei] Parajanov’s own mystic tradition and symbolic language, the story by [Mikhail] Lermontov is transformed into real and invented, magnificent, all-eclipsing art” (Kora Zereteli, Munich Film Festival).

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