Director Patrick Cazals Presents New Films on Mamoulian and Paradjanov

ARA NALBANDIAN
Staff Writer

Patrick Cazals

On Sunday, May 20th, 2007, French film producer and director Patrick Cazals treated audience members at California State University, Fresno to a screening of two of his recent films. The Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State organized the presentation.

Cazals screened Rouben Mamoulian: The Golden Age of Broadway and Hollywood and Sergueï Paradjanov: The Rebel. While each documentary presented the life and work of two stylistically different directors, the two combined to illustrate the talents of perhaps the two greatest Armenian directors of all time.

The afternoon started off with Rouben Mamoulian: The Golden Age of Broadway and Hollywood. Rouben Mamoulian (1897 – 1987) was a noted Armenian-American director who was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. After moving to America, by way of London, Mamoulian rose to fame directing such notable Broadway productions as Porgy and Bess and Oklahoma! , as well as directing the films Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), Love Me Tonight (1932), Becky Sharp (1935), and The Mark of Zorro (1940). For his many contributions to cinematography and the theatrical arts, Mamoulian was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the directors Guild of America and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition to interviews with Mamoulian’s friends and family, the documentary also contained footage of Mamoulian himself.

One of the highlights of the Mamoulian documentary was the cameo appearance by Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, director of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State. The short clip of Dr. Kouymjian, which brought instant delight to the audience members, showed Dr. Kouymjian telling an entertaining anecdote of a chance encounter he had with Mamoulian.

The second of the two films, entitled Sergueï Paradjanov: The Rebel, was a touching portrait of the highly acclaimed Armenian director Sergueï Paradjanov (1924-1990). Coincidentally, Paradjanov also hailed from Mamoulian’s birthplace of Tbilisi, Georgia. Though they shared a similar origin, Paradjanov is most notable for his colorful, avant-garde style of directing, as seen in The Color of Pomegranates (1968), on the life of the ashough Sayat Nova, which highly contrasted with Mamoulian’s classical style. The documentary, which includes candid footage of Paradjanov, touches on Paradjanov’s turbulent life, including his five-year prison sentence in 1973 by Soviet authorities.

At the conclusion of the film screenings, Patrick Cazals was gracious enough to speak to the audience and answer questions regarding his fascinating documentaries. Many of the audience members expressed their gratitude to Cazals for his hard work and for bringing the lives and art of these brilliant directors to film.