Serhii
Paradzanov
“I am an Arminian, who was born in Tbilisi and was imprisoned
in russia for Ukrainian nationalism” – these words belong to a
unique Ukrainian filmmaker, founder of the poetic movie genre,
Serhii Paradzanov.
Serhii was an extraordinary person, his friends and like-minded
people said that you could expect anything from him, not only in
his movies but also in his life.
He shot a lot of movies, but the most popular is “Shadows of
Forgotten Ancestors” (Tini Zabutykh predkiv). He was adored by
the M. Kotsiubynskyi novel, and he decided to shoot a movie. In
his movies, he tried to express all the values of the Ukrainian
people and traditions in the main character.
“Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” has become a hallmark of
Ukrainian poetic cinema. The film has won 39 international
awards and 24 Grand Prix at film festivals. And by the number
of prizes, it entered the Guinness Book of Records
Interesting facts



In prison, Paradzanov lived in very tough conditions, he
was beaten and tortured. Once in prison, the warden
said to Paradzanov, who was sweeping the floor:
"Convict, you are working without a flame!" The next
time the director noticed his superiors, he set fire to his
broom and began sweeping with a flame.
A month before his death, he began working on the
movie “Confessions”, which he was never to complete.
He wanted to die in Ukraine and even met with
Brezhnev, but was not allowed to enter Ukraine and
died in Yerevan.