Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov, PAR (russian: Каре́н Гео́ргиевич Шахназа́ров; born 8 July 1952) is a Soviet and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He became the Director General of

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output inclu ...

studios in 1998. Shakhnazarov is the son of a

Georgy Shakhnazarov Georgy Khosroevich Shakhnazarov ( hy, Գեորգի Շահնազարով; October 4, 1924 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, Soviet Union – May 15, 2001 in Tula, Russia) was a Soviet politician and political scientist. He was one of t ...

, a politician of

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 across the ...

descent, and a

housewife, Anna Grigorievna Shakhnazarova. His 1987 film ''

Courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

'' was entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Special Prize. In 2002 he was a member of the jury at the

24th Moscow International Film Festival The 24th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 21 to 30 June 2002. The Golden St. George was awarded to the Italian-French film ''Resurrection'' directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. Jury * Chinghiz Aitmatov (Kyrgyzstan – Preside ...

. Since 2005 he has been a member of the

Public Chamber of Russia The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation (russian: Общественная палата Российской Федерации), sometimes shortened to Civic Chamber (russian: Общественная палата), is a consultative civil s ...

. His 2012 film ''

White Tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...

'' was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...

, but it did not make the final shortlist. In March 2014 he signed a letter in support of the position of the President of Russia

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

on the situation in Ukraine and

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. For this he was banned from entering

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. On 10 March 2022, during a broadcast on

Russia-1 Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship ch ...

, Shakhnazarov, who initially supported the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, called for an end to it, saying that the situation was at risk of becoming "an absolute humanitarian disaster", and that there is no realistic possibility for the Russian forces to seize Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities.

Selected filmography

Genealogy

Karen Shakhnazarov is one of several living descendants of the famous Melik-Shahnazarian princely family from

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik, and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is m ...

. The Melik-Shahnazarians ruled Nagorno-Karabakh's province of Varanda in medieval and modern times.Карен ШАХНАЗАРОВ: «Я не экранизирую свою жизнь»

References

External links

*
Karen Shakhnazarov, born in the USSR (biography)
1952 births Living people Russian people of Armenian descent Russian film directors Soviet film directors People from Krasnodar Members of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Academicians of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia Mosfilm {{Russia-film-director-stub