Free Film at The Parkway: The Color of Pomegranates

1969, 73 minutes
Armenia

Director: Sergei Parajanov

Cast: Sofiko Chiaureli, Melkon Aleksanyan, Vilen Galstyan, Giorgi Gegechkori. Narration by Armen Dzhigarkhanyan

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One of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century, Sergei Parajanov‘s, Color of Pomegranates, a biography of the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova (King of Song) reveals the poet’s life more through his poetry than a conventional narration of important events in Sayat Nova’s life. We see the poet grow up, fall in love, enter a monastery and die, but these incidents are depicted in the context of what are images from Sergei Paradjanov’s imagination and Sayat Nova’s poems, poems that are seen and rarely heard. Sofiko Chiaureli plays 6 roles, both male and female, and Sergei Parajanov writes, directs, edits, choreographs, works on costumes, design and decor and virtually every aspect of this revolutionary work void of any dialog or camera movement.
 
Parajanov-Vartanov Institute worked with Martin Scorsese‘s Film Foundation on the restoration of The Color of Pomegranates after a chance meeting during the esteemed 17th Busan International Film Festival’s Sergei Paradjanov and MIkhail Vartanov film retrospective and art exhibition.
 
The restored Color of Pomegranates (Sayat Nova) world premiered at the 67th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) in France and, with Mikhail Vartanov‘s Parajanov: The Last Spring, at the 28th IL Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival in Italy where it was introduced by Olivia Harrison, the widow of The Beatles guitarist George Harrison whose foundation funded the restoration.
 
Martin Scorsese introduced the restored film’s North American premiere at 39th Toronto International Film Festival. Martiros M. Vartanov, who worked on the restoration with L’Immagine Ritrovata, introduced the US-premiere at The Academy at LACMA series together with his last film.