| Cinema of Armenia | |
|---|---|
) Moscow Cinema in Yerevan | |
| Produced feature films (2011)[1] | |
| Fictional | 5 |
| Animated | - |
| Documentary | - |
The cinema of Armenia was established on 16 April 1923, when the Armenian State Committee of Cinema was established by government decree.
The first Armenian film with Armenian subject called "Haykakan Sinema" was produced in 1912 in Cairo by Armenian-Egyptian publisher Vahan Zartarian. The film was premiered in Cairo on 13 March 1913.[2]
In March 1924, the first Armenian film studio: Armenfilm (Armenian: Հայֆիլմ "Hayfilm," Russian: Арменкино "Armenkino") was established in Yerevan, starting with Soviet Armenia (1924), an Armenian documentary film.
Namus was the first Armenian silent black-and-white film (1925), directed by Hamo Beknazarian and based on a play of Alexander Shirvanzade describing the ill fate of two lovers, who were engaged by their families to each other since childhood, but because of violations of namus (a tradition of honor), the girl was married by her father to another person. The first sound film, Pepo was shot in 1935, director Hamo Beknazarian.
More recent directors include:
- Sergei Parajanov (best known for The Color of Pomegranates)
- Henrik Malyan (Best known for Nahapet)
- Artavazd Peleshian (best known for The Seasons of the Year)
- Hamo Beknazarian
- Edmond Keosayan
- Frunze Dovlatyan
- Mikhail Vartanov (best known for Parajanov: The Last Spring)
- Levon Mkrtchyan (Hovhannes Shiraz)
- Atom Egoyan Ararat
- J. Michael Hagopian, for his acclaimed documentaries on the Armenian Genocide, modern Armenian history, and historical Armenia
Modern day Armenian cinema produces two or three features, eight shorts and fifteen documentary films each year.[3]
See also
- Armenfilm
- Armenian National Cinematheque
- Cinema of the world
- Media of Armenia
References
- ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production - Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Armenian Cinema 100, by Artsvi Bakhchinyan, Yerevan, 2012, pp. 111-112
- ^ Smith, Ian Hayden (2012). International Film Guide 2012. p. 60. ISBN 978-1908215017.
External links
- Armenian Cinema: Armenian films and Armenian filmmakers
- Armenian Cinema: Biographical Sketch
- (in French) Jean Radvanyi, Le cinéma arménien, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1993
- National Cinema Center of Armenia