Mikhail Vartanov (Russian: Михаил Ð'артанов, Armenian:
Միքայել Վարդանով, French: Mikhaïl Vartanov; b.
February 21, 1937, RSFSR, Soviet Union, now Russian Federation, d.
December 31, 2009, Hollywood, California) was a film director,
cinematographer, documentarian, essayist, photographer and artist who
developed a style of documentary filmmaking termed the "direction of
undirected action."He is considered an important cinematographer and
documentarian of his generation, noted for artistic collaborations
with Sergei Parajanov and such influential documentary films as
Parajanov: The Last Spring, The Seasons (directed by Artavazd
Peleshyan), The Color of Armenian Land, and a series of essays
including The Unmailed Letters.Vartanov's debut film, The Color of
Armenian Land, marked the beginning of his trademark style, afterwards
dubbed as the "direction of undirected action." This documentary, a
silent commentary on the technique of painter Martiros Saryan, also
featured Vartanov's friends, the dissident artists Minas Avetisyan and
Sergei Parajanov. Due to this the film was censored and suppressed;
leading up to Avetisyan's assassination and Parajanov's imprisonment
shortly after.Mikhail Vartanov had a close relationship with
imprisoned director Sergei Parajanov. He was first acquainted with
Parajanov's work in 1964, having watched the latter's film Shadows of
Forgotten Ancestors and the test footage of the unfinished Kiev
Frescoes as a student at Moscow’s Gerasimov Institute of
Cinematography. Their lifelong friendship began after they met for the
first time in 1967, in Armenia, and discussed the screenplay of The
Color of Pomegranates (also known as Sayat Nova).
Միքայել Վարդանով, French: Mikhaïl Vartanov; b.
February 21, 1937, RSFSR, Soviet Union, now Russian Federation, d.
December 31, 2009, Hollywood, California) was a film director,
cinematographer, documentarian, essayist, photographer and artist who
developed a style of documentary filmmaking termed the "direction of
undirected action."He is considered an important cinematographer and
documentarian of his generation, noted for artistic collaborations
with Sergei Parajanov and such influential documentary films as
Parajanov: The Last Spring, The Seasons (directed by Artavazd
Peleshyan), The Color of Armenian Land, and a series of essays
including The Unmailed Letters.Vartanov's debut film, The Color of
Armenian Land, marked the beginning of his trademark style, afterwards
dubbed as the "direction of undirected action." This documentary, a
silent commentary on the technique of painter Martiros Saryan, also
featured Vartanov's friends, the dissident artists Minas Avetisyan and
Sergei Parajanov. Due to this the film was censored and suppressed;
leading up to Avetisyan's assassination and Parajanov's imprisonment
shortly after.Mikhail Vartanov had a close relationship with
imprisoned director Sergei Parajanov. He was first acquainted with
Parajanov's work in 1964, having watched the latter's film Shadows of
Forgotten Ancestors and the test footage of the unfinished Kiev
Frescoes as a student at Moscow’s Gerasimov Institute of
Cinematography. Their lifelong friendship began after they met for the
first time in 1967, in Armenia, and discussed the screenplay of The
Color of Pomegranates (also known as Sayat Nova).
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