Artavazd Peleshian, Armenia's distinguished cinematic poet, is rooted in the history of his homeland yet universal in his reach. During a long career that began in the Soviet period, Peleshian—who developed his own distinctive style for assembling and scoring his material—has crafted a body of iconic cinematic short essays that study the spiritual aspects of nature, history, and human life. Similar to his friend Sergei Paradjanov, Peleshian (b. 1938)—"a master of montage and true descendant of Vertov and Eisenstein" (Pacific Film Archive)—is a national treasure in Armenia and unlike any other filmmaker. Special thanks to Melik Karapetyan, Kinoproject, Alla Kovgan, and the Harvard Film Archive.
The Beginning followed by We, The Inhabitants, and Life
Peleshian's thought-provoking deliberation on the 1917 October Revolution, The Beginning (1967) is followed by We (1969), a perceptive portrait on Armenian identity and fate; The Inhabitants(1970), a musing on the relationships of living things who inhabit the earth; and Life (1993), a visual essay on the experience of human birth. (Total running time 60 minutes)
The Seasons (1975), an unusual essay on the ironies and harmonies of man and nature expressed through shepherds working in the Armenian highlands, is followed by Our Century (1982), a 50-minute ciné-poem fabricated from archival footage on the consequences of present-day human endeavor. The program concludes with The End (1994), a tour de force of editing and an emblematic train ride through the darkness. (Total running time 90 minutes)
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