1924 –1990

Director, artist, sculptor, designer. Sergei Parajanov (Sargis Hovsepi Parajanyan) was born on January 9, 1924 in Tiflis in the family of an antique dealer. In 1942, he entered the Tbilisi Institute of Railway Engineers. In 1945, he transferred to the Moscow Conservatory and, in parallel with his studies, in 1946 he entered the directing department of the VGIK, from which he graduated in 1951. In 1959, Parajanov's debut feature film "The First Guy" was released. In 1964, Sergei Paradzhanov directed the movie "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (internationally released as "Fiery Horses"). Over the two years of its release, the film has received 28 awards, including the British Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, the Prize for Best Director at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, the Festival of Festivals Cup in Rome, and others. Since the mid-1950s, he became interested in creating works of fine art. He worked in collage, mosaic, and mixed media techniques, creating works of art from improvised materials during his imprisonment in the camps.