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Updated with minor clarifications from Martiros Vartanov. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is shining a spotlight on one of the most revered filmmakers in cinema history.

On Friday evening the museum in Los Angeles will screen a restored version of visionary Armenian filmmaker and poet Sergei Parajanov’s 1969 classic The Color of Pomegranates, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth. In addition, the museum is premiering the newly restored Parajanov: The Last Spring, a documentary about Parajanov directed by Soviet-born filmmaker and cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov.

The Color of Pomegranates, a visually metamorphic and hybrid narrative, follows the life of the great 18th century Armenian poet and musician, Sayat Nova. Oscillating between stillness and movement – Pomegranates is a mesmerizing wide-canvas painting on film and has been hailed as one of the greatest movies of all time in various polls conducted by Movieline, Time Out, and the British Film Institute’s magazine,...

“Art, no matter how high it rises, cannot forget the land which birthed it.” - Martiros Saryan. That quote, by a prominent Armenian painter, begins The Color of Armenian Land, a scarcely seen short documentary by Mikhail Vartanov which, at least in part, documents the making of The Color of Pomegranates, Sergei Parajanov’s historic film of tableau and symbolism. While many cinephiles work overtime to separate great art from any repulsive behaviors of its artist, Saryan, by way of Vartanov, and now by way of the Criterion Collection, remind us that art, its artists, and the lands from which they hail, are all of a piece. ...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Jonathan Mossek's "As Good As Dead," starring Andie MacDowell and Cary Elwes, will kick off the 10th annual International Beverly Hills Film Festival on April 14 at the Clarity Theater in Beverly Hills.

It will be preceded earlier that evening by the premiere of "Jesse's Story," Mark Jacobs' documentary about surfer Jesse Billauer, as well as the North American premiere of the Brazilian documentary "Sequestro" (Kidnapping), directed by Jorge W. Atalla.

Producer Frank Yablans will be the third annual recipient of the Legends Award, which will be presented at the closing night awards ceremony April 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Beverly Hills Hotel.

Bhff founder Nino Simone will be presented with the Parajanov-Vartanov Award for his commitment to independent cinema and for his support of filmmakers Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov.