Roman Gurgenovich Balayan (, ; born 15 April 1941, Nerkin Horatagh,
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majori ...
,
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
) is a Ukrainian-Armenian film director.
In 1997 Balayan was awarded the title People’s Artist of Ukraine.
Career
Balayan worked as an actor in the theater of Stepanakert (located in the
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...
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 ...
. He was nominated and won several international prizes.
He is well-known for his literary adaptations; authors whom Balayan has adapted for the screen are Anton Chekhov (''Kashtanka'', 1975; ''The Kiss'', 1983, TV), Ivan Turgenev ('' The Lone Wolf'',
1977; ''First Love,'' 1995), and Nikolai Leskov ''( Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, 1989).''
His film '' Flights in Dreams and Reality'' (1982), a drama about depression and a midlife crisis, is one of his most well-known works. Oleg Yankovsky portrays a creative man in his 40s who feels alienated in society. At the time of its release, politically minded viewers perceived it as a critique of Brezhnevian “stagnation”.
His 1986 film '' Guard Me, My Talisman'' was entered into the main competition at the 43rd edition of the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
and won the Golden Tulip at the 1987
International Istanbul Film Festival
The Istanbul Film Festival () is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its re ...
30th Moscow International Film Festival
The 30th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 19 to 28 June 2008. The Golden George was awarded to the Iranian film '' As Simple as That'' directed by Reza Mirkarimi.
Jury
* Liv Ullmann (Norway – Chairman of the Jury)
* Michael ...
. In 2018 he announced, that he may be shooting his next film in Ukrainian language.https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/09/07/77753-roman-balayan-amerika-mne-dolzhna-skazat-es-ukazat-rossiya-dolzhna-kakogo-cherta Novaya Gazeta
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...