Tigran Edmondovich Keosayan (, ; born 4 January 1966) is a Russian film director, actor and television presenter. He is a winner of film festival prizes including

TEFI TEFI () is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as television shows ...

Kinotavr Kinotavr (), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival was an open film festival held in the resort city of Sochi, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.Тигран Кеосаян. Биография и фильмография
// russia.tv Described as a pro-Kremlin television presenter, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

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 ...

imposed sanctions on Keosayan as a result of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Biography

Keosayan is the son of Armenian-Russian film director and composer

Edmond Keosayan Edmond Gareginovich Keosayan (; ; 9 October 1936 – 21 April 1994) was an Armenian Soviet Union, Soviet film director and musician. * 1952-54 — worked in Yerevan watch factory. 1954-56 — studied in Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, ...

and actress Laura Gevorkyan. He studied at the all-Union (now all-Russian) state Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). Keosayan is the director of Russian films including ''Katyka and Shiz'' (1992), ''

Poor Sasha ''Poor Sasha'' () is a 1997 Russian adventure comedy film directed by Tigran Keosayan. Plot A touching New Year's fairy tale about those who, despite money and status, lack love and warmth. Moscow, late 1990s. Beryozkin, an honest, but unlucky ...

'' (1997), ''Lily of the Valley Silvery'' (2005), ''Hare Over the Abyss'' (2006), ''The Twelve Chairs''

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

(2003), a large number of clips for Mikhail Shufutinsky,

Igor Sarukhanov Igor Armenovich Sarukhanov (born April 6, 1956) is a Russian pop musician, composer and artist of Armenian descent, as well as Merited Artist of the Russian Federation, Meritorious Artist of Russia (1997). Sarukhanov was born in Samarkand. He fi ...

, and

Irina Allegrova Irina Aleksandrovna Allegrova (; born 20 January 1952) is a Russian singer. She is a People's Artist of Russia (2010).

. He is co-operated with

Fyodor Bondarchuk Fyodor Sergeyevich Bondarchuk ( ; born 9 May 1967) is a Russian film director, actor, producer and TV host. He is also the founder of Art Pictures Studio, a production company. He specializes in action movies, war movies, and science fiction ...

, Alexander Zbruev and others. Keosayan is an anchorman of the daily (from Monday to Thursday) analytical talk show ''With Tigran Keosayan'' on the Russian private TV channel REN-TV.

Personal life

Keosayan is married to

Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (born 6 April 1980) is a Russian media executive. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT,RT,Margarita Simonyan biography
, NewsExchange.org, accessed 20 September 2012. as well as the state-owned media group

Rossiya Segodnya MIA Rossiya Segodnya (; ) is a media group owned and operated by the Russian government, created on the basis of RIA Novosti. The group owns and operates Sputnik, RIA Novosti, inoSMI and several other entities. The head of the organisation is ...

. Keosayan suffers from a long-standing heart condition and suffered heart attacks in 2008 and 2010. In January 2025, Margarita Simonyan said that Keosayan temporarily underwent clinical death and is in a coma.

Sanctions

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Keosayan was one of the individuals sanctioned by the

. The reasons given for the sanctions were that Keosayan has spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Keosayan was included in the list of Russians under personal sanctions by the

in March 2022. On 24 June 2022,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

reported that Keosayan was denied entry. On 10 October,

n authorities declared Keosayan and his wife

Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (born 6 April 1980) is a Russian media executive. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT,persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

'' as a "agents from different countries with Armenian surnames" who allow themselves a disrespectful attitude towards Armenia.

Controversy

Blackface segment about Barack Obama

On 30 November 2020, Keosayan's TV show "International Sawmill", for which Keosayan and his wife

Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (born 6 April 1980) is a Russian media executive. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT,blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

posing as former United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. In the segment, Keosayan, referring to Obama's book ''

A Promised Land ''A Promised Land'' is a memoir by Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Published on November 17, 2020, it is the first of a planned two-volume series. Remaining focused on his political career, the preside ...

'', asks the actress: "Do you consider this book your achievement?", to which the actress in blackface replies: "Of course." Keosayan then asks: "Because none of your relatives have written books?", after which the actress answers: "Because none of my relatives that came before me could write." Keosayan then states "you should have a rap musician, not the president". In the segment, the actress wears a bandana and gold chains and behaves in a way regarded as stereotypical to

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing b ...

. The segment was widely deemed as being racist.

Filmography

As a film director

# ''Katyka and Shiz'' (1992) # ''Cases Funny, Family Matters'' (1996, TV Series) # ''

'' (1997) # ''The Death Directory'' (1999, TV series) # '' Silver Lily of the Valley'' (2000) # '' The President and His Granddaughter'' (2000) # ''Men's Work'' (2001, also TV series: 2005) # ''Hare Over the Abyss'' (2006) # '' Rabbit Over the Void'' (2006) #''Mirage'' (2008) # ''Yalta-45'' (2011, mini-series) # ''Three Comrades'' (2012, mini-series) # ''Sea. Mountains. Exclay'' (2014, TV series) # ''Actress'' (2017, TV series) # '' The Crimean Bridge. Made with Love!'' (2018) # ''Immortals'' (2021)

As an actor

# ''Joker'' (1991) # ''Silver Lily of the Valley'' (2000) # '' The Heat'' (2006)

As a writer

# ''Cases Funny, Family Matters'' (TV Series, 1996) # ''Silver Lily of the Valley'' (TV series, 2005)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keosayan, Tigran Living people 1966 births Russian propagandists Russian people of Armenian descent Russian film directors Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Academicians of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences "Nika" REN TV Soviet male actors Male actors from Moscow Mass media people from Moscow Russian television presenters Russian screenwriters Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia Russian propaganda film directors