Sergei Parajanov - Dreams from Another Dimension

Sergei Parajanov
Dreams from Another Dimension

Born in 1924, in what is now Georgia, to Armenian parents, Sergei Parajanov is one of the rare filmmakers who has made some of the most significant films of several different cultures. His breakthrough came when he made the Ukrainian-language Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors in 1965, encouraged by Ukrainian maestro Oleksandr Dovzhenko, one of his teachers at film school in Moscow. Parajanov’s unique blend of local folklore, religious symbolism and his own, rich imagination is unique. Though the film is based on a novel, the images, rather than the story, really impress.

The Colour of Pomegranates from 1969 is a biopic of Armenian bard Sayat Nova only in name. In reality, the film is a semi-experimental kaleidoscope of miniature-like tableaux. Even today, the work continues to inspire everything from haute couture to music videos from Lady Gaga. Parajanov’s last film, after several years in prison, was Achik Kérib, which dives into Azerbaijani culture. The dissident director was a fierce opponent of Soviet attempts to prescribe what cinema could be and do. His films went not just beyond what Soviet censors allowed but even beyond what most directors in film history are capable of imagining.