Anatoly Nikolaievich Eiramdzhan (sometimes Eiramjan; , ; January 3, 1937 – September 23, 2014) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

film director, writer, and producer. He was the creator of the first commercial film in the USSR and the author of humorous stories and sketches. He began his film career in the 1970s as a screenwriter. In 1989 Eiramdzhan began shooting films from his own scripts. In 1992 he founded New Odeon film studio, having become a director, screenwriter, and producer of his films. He was compared to

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novelist. In the 1950s, Wood directed several B movie, low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult c ...

for shooting films quickly and cheaply. At the same time, his achievements include the fact that he made many films in the conditions of the decline of the film industry in Russia in the 90s and gave many film actors the opportunity to work in their specialty.

Biography

Eiramdzhan was born in 1937 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. His father was Nikolay Nikolaevich Ter-Grigoryan, an accomplished teacher of music and the piano. Anatoly Eiramdzhan's mother, whose surname was taken by Anatoly, was Arevik Nikitichna Eiramdzhan—the granddaughter of the famous Armenian writer

Ghazaros Aghayan Ghazaros (Lazarus) Aghayan (; ) was an Armenian writer, educator, folklorist, historian, linguist and public figure. Biography Aghayan was born in the village of Bolnisi (also known as Bolnis-Khachen) in the Tiflis Governorate (now Georgia) of t ...

(1840–1911). He is a cousin of composer and musical and public figure Eduard Khagogortian. Nephew of painter

Martiros Saryan Martiros Saryan (; ; – 5 May 1972) was an Armenian painter, People's Artist of the USSR (1960), member of the USSR Academy of Fine Arts (1947), president of the Artists' Union of Soviet Armenia (1945-1951), the founder of a modern Armenian nat ...

. His wife, Oksana Shagdar (educated as an engineer-programmer) is an assistant to the movie director, photographer, make-up artist, and actress. Her last film work was as a cameraman in the video for the song "Charmed, Enchanted" for famous Russian singer Mikhail Zvezdinsky. In 1961, Eiramdzhan graduated from the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry. In 1972, he completed a three-year program at the Screenplay branch of the High Course of Scriptwriters and Movie Directors (conducted by Iosif Olshansky). After graduating he began writing movie scripts. Eiramdzhan was also the author of short comic stories. He was honored as the winner of the prestigious "Golden Calf Award" from the Russian

Literaturnaya Gazeta ''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' (, ''Literary Gazette'') is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and the Soviet Union. It was published for two periods in the 19th century, and was revived in 1929. Overview The current newspa ...

for 1972 — 1973. In 1989, Eiramdzhan began producing films from his own scripts. He was created the film studio "New Odeon" in Moscow in 1992 by Eiramdzhan to focus on creating low-budget comedies. He also took on the responsibilities of screenwriter, art director, and film director. During his career at film studio "New Odeon", Eiramdzhan was responsible for the creation of 22 films. In 1995, the publishing house Author, Inc. of Moscow published Eiramdzhan's first book, titled ''"The Ladies' Man and Other Comedy Films"''. The book includes comedy movie scripts. In 1997, the film "The Impotent Man" was awarded the Award "Golden Demetra" at the Yalta International Film Festival, whose presidents were

Emil Loteanu Emil Loteanu (6 November 1936 – 18 April 2003) was a Moldovan and Soviet film director born in what is now Republic of Moldova. He moved to Bucharest and Moscow in his early life. His best known films are '' Lăutarii'', '' Gypsies Are Found Ne ...

and

Vladimir Motyl Vladimir Yakovlevich Motyl (; 26 June 1927 – 21 February 2010) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. Vladimir Motyl was born in Lepiel, Belarus. His father was a Polish émigré, who was arrested in 1930 and sent to So ...

. In 2006, the publishing house Golos-Press published his second book, titled ''"From Everyone One Thread"''. In 2012, the publishing house Golos-Press published the third book, titled ''"The Shirt for Naked"''. Artwork of the book—artist

Vagrich Bakhchanyan Vagrich (Vahrij) Hakobi (Akopovich) Bakhchanyan (; ; ; May 23, 1938, in Kharkiv, Soviet Ukraine – November 12, 2009, in New York City, United States) was a Ukrainian graphic artist and designer of Armenian heritage. He was a Soviet nonconformi ...

. The book includes stories, novels, scripts, and plays—stories about cinema and for cinema. All of them are written with subtle humor, beautiful Russian language, and love for the heroes of these works. Recently, such books are very rare in Russian literature. In 2014, the publishing house Golos-Press published the 4th book, titled ''"Where is Nophelet and something else..."''. The book includes stories, novels, and screenplays—stories about cinema and for cinema. Anatoly Eiramdzhan: Since 2003, Eiramdzhan has lived and worked in Miami, FL, with his wife, Oksana Shagdar, and his son, Koka (Nikolay). The name of Anatoly Eiramdzhan is well known to the Russian cinematographer; films directed by himself or other directors based on his scripts are still popular. He demonstrated and proved the possibility of the existence in Russia of an independent low-budget commercial cinema that can survive. All the films of Anatoly Eiramdzhan are not similar to either Soviet or post-Soviet comedies; they have an author's face. Eiramdzhan's films consistently receive very high ratings and have large theater and TV audiences. Around 15 scripts for films, the libretto of the musical "His Majesty's Occasion" (based on the biography of the great writer

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

) and the theater play "Lyosha is to Blame in All", written in the last years of his life, remained as unfulfilled projects. Many of these scripts are published in the latest books of the writer and filmmaker. Anatoly Eiramdzhan died in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

September 23, 2014 at the age of 77 and was buried in Miami at Southern Memorial Park. The cause of death was ruled as a cardiac arrest.

Filmography

; as scriptwriter * ''Fellows Villager'' (1973) — scriptwriter * ''What There is Our Life?'' — (1975) scriptwriter * ''Let's Meet at the Fountain'' (1976) — scriptwriter * ''If I Would Be the Chief'' (1980) — scriptwriter * ''Where It Will Get To?!'' (1981) — scriptwriter * ''It Is Time of Red Apples'' (1981) — scriptwriter * ''Travel Will Be Pleasant'' (1982) — scriptwriter * '' Vitya Glushakov - A Friend of the Apaches'' (1983) — scriptwriter * ''

The Most Charming and Attractive ''The Most Charming and Attractive'' () is a 1985 Soviet romantic comedy film directed by Gerald Bezhanov. Plot Nadya Klyueva, a kind and diligent employee at a research institute, is over thirty and still unmarried, unable to arrange her persona ...

'' (1985) — scriptwriter * ''

Where is the Nophelet? ''Where is the Nophelet?'' () is a Soviet 1988 comedy directed by Gerald Bezhanov. Plot Talented engineer Pavel Fedorovich Golikov who works at a research institute in a team comprised purely of females, is surprisingly timid and inexperienced in ...

'' (1987) — scriptwriter ;as director and scriptwriter #''For Fine Ladies!'' (1989) — director, scriptwriter #''The Ladies' Man'' (1990) — director, scriptwriter #'' My Seawoman'' (1990) — director, scriptwriter #''Real Man'' (Short-Footage Film) (1991) — producer, director, scriptwriter. ;as producer, director and scriptwriter #''New Odeon'' (1992) #''Old Records'' (1993) (Short-Footage Film) #''The Groom from Miami'' (1994) #''The Third is Not Superfluous'' (1994) #''The Impotent Men'' (1996) (The Award"Gold Demetra", Yalta 1997) #''Night Visit'' (1997) #''When We Are Not Strange'' (1998) #''Prima Donna Mary'' (1998) #''The Ultimatum'' (1999) #''The Valentine's Day'' (2000) #''The Agent in the Miniskirt'' (2000) #''The Mistress From Moscow'' (2001) #''Secret Appointment'' (2001) #''We Have Made It !'' (2001) #''The Son of the Loser'' (2002) #''Easy Kiss'' (2002) #''Arrow of Love'' (2002) #''The Braked Reflex'' (2004) #''To Marry at 24 hours'' (2004) #''The Gift of Nature'' (2005)

Critics

Newspaper "

Kultura ''Kultura'' (, ''Culture'')—sometimes referred to as ''Kultura Paryska'' ("Paris-based Culture")—was a leading Polish-émigré literary-political magazine, published from 1947 to 2000 by ''Instytut Literacki'' (the Literary Institute), in ...

": . Newspaper "Vzglyad": Weekly newspaper "Ether" (Armenia): Film critic Igor Mantsov described Anatoly Eiramdzhan as the most stable, accurate and professional (yea, yea!) cinematographer of the decade (i.e. 1990s), a true knight of low-budget cinema, who on scanty money in a situation of complete collapse of the film industry managed to give out one movie farce after another and in which only the lazy person did not spit.

References

External links

Official web site Anatoly Eiramdzhan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eiramdzhan, Anatoliy 1937 births 2014 deaths Soviet screenwriters Soviet male screenwriters Russian screenwriters Writers from Baku Soviet Armenians Russian expatriates in the United States Russian people of Armenian descent Russian male writers Soviet male writers Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University alumni High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors alumni Soviet film directors Russian film directors 20th-century Russian memoirists Russian comedy film directors Soviet film producers Russian film producers