Screenwriter: Sergei Parajanov

Co-presented by Vidiots community programming partner Armenian Film Society

A breathtaking fusion of poetry, ethnography, and cinema, Sergei Parajanov’s masterwork overflows with unforgettable images and sounds. In a series of tableaux that blend the tactile with the abstract, The Color of Pomegranates revives the splendors of Armenian culture through the story of the eighteenth-century troubadour Sayat-Nova, charting his intellectual, artistic, and spiritual growth through iconographic compositions rather than traditional narrative. The film’s tapestry of folklore and metaphor departed from the realism that dominated the Soviet cinema of its era, leading authorities to block its distribution, with rare underground screenings presenting it in a restructured form. This edition features the cut closest to Parajanov’s original vision, in a restoration that brings new life to one of cinema’s most enigmatic meditations on art and beauty.

The Color of Pomegranates was restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and the Cineteca di Bologna, in association with the National Cinema Centre of Armenia and Gosfilmofond of Russia, and funded by the Material World Charitable Foundation.

Armenian Film Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to shining a spotlight on Armenian films and filmmakers. Founded in 2015 by husband and wife Armen and Mary Karaoghlanian, Armenian Film Society has held events around the world with guests such as Atom Egoyan, Joe Manganiello, Mardik Martin, Sev Ohanian, and more.