Levon Mkrtchyan (; ; born February 25, 1953, in Leninakan (now

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

) is an

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n director, known for his documentary films about Armenian culture and history, such as ''Davit Anhaght'', ''Charents: Known and Unknown Sides'', ''Jean Garzu'', ''Mesrop Mashtots'', ''My Komitas'', ''And There Was Light'', ''The Book of Independence''. He has received the highest award of the Soviet Union, the

Lenin Prize The Lenin Prize (, ) was one of the most prestigious awards of the Soviet Union for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was originally created on June 23, 1925, and awarded until 1934. During ...

. He has earned numerous awards for his documentaries. His last prestigious award was received during the Golden Eagle film festival for his film ''The Book of Independence'', in the Best Documentary category. He studied in the Directing Department of the Yerevan Fine Arts and Theater Institute. In 1978, he released his debut short film ''The Muses''. In 1984, he graduated from the Directing Department of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. Since 1978, he has shot thirty-three documentaries. He has made a number of films about well known Armenians, including the only film footage of

Hovhannes Shiraz Hovhannes Shiraz (; April 27, 1914 – March 24, 1984) was an Armenians, Armenian poet. Biography Shiraz was born Onik Tadevosi Karapetyan in the city of Alexandropol, then part of the Russian Empire (now Gyumri, Armenia). His mother, Astghik ...

, footage of

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

visiting Armenia after the

1988 earthquake 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, as well as the funeral of

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

. He was a close friend and film partner with the Armenian director

Sergei Parajanov Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Parajanov was born to ...

, and has a rare footage of him, including the last days of his life.

Filmography

*1983: ''On the Path to Eternity'' (about

) *1984: ''Paruyr Sevak'' *1987: ''Gyumri'' *1987: ''Charents: Known and Unknown Sides'' *1988: ''Mesrop Mashtots'' *1989: ''Curfew'' () *1989: ''

Armenia'' *1990: ''General Andranik'' () *1993: ''Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia'' () *1996: ''5 years in Armenia'' *2001: ''And There Was Light'' () *2002: ''The Book of Independence'' () *2005: ''

: A Documentary'' *2007: ''We Love Armenia''

Publications

*Documentary Films of the Armenian Soviet Republic, Berlin, 1990 *Armenian Association of Film - Critics and Cinema - Journalists, 1924-1999 *Armenians - Author Toros Toranian, Aleppo, Syria, 1998 (Թող Հայաստանը Խոսի)

External links

*https://archive.today/20130114174943/http://ru.hayernaysor.am/1311339618 *https://web.archive.org/web/20070604005230/http://www.arm-cinema.am/personalities/Directors/index.htm * * *https://web.archive.org/web/20071228092044/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5259207171967580050 * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mkrtchyan, Levon 1953 births Living people People from Gyumri Armenian documentary filmmakers