Jean Radvanyi tells of 'Parajanov, troublemaker from the Caucasus'


Set to run until March 17, Pera Museum is hosting an exhibition entitled "Parajanov, with Sarkis," where the extraordinary artist Sergey Parajanov's works are on display. Parajanov was a productive and multi-dimensional artist and cinema professional, who struggled to continue in artistic works under Soviet pressure. The show presents all the periods of this famous director and master of poetic cinema to Turkish spectators.

Today film critic Jean Radvanyi will give a talk on Parajanov's cinema. Enitled "Parajanov, Troublemaker from the Caucasus," the talk will be held at the Pera Museum Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. and will be free of charge.

As an expert on post-Soviet lands, especially on Russia and the Caucasus, Radvanyi will study Parajanov's cinema within the context of the Soviets and focus on the two prominent styles seen in his films. One is Parajanov's aesthetic style, which expresses how socialist reality broke its well-accepted rules, while the second is his quizzical attitude that never resists the opportunity to get into a heated argument.

In addition to his service as a geographer and film critic, Jean Radvanyi lectures at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales'de (INALCO) in Paris. "Le cinema georgien" (Centre Georges Pompidou, 1988), "Le cinema d'Asie centrale sovietique" (Centre Georges Pompidou, 1991), "Le cinema armenien" (Centre Georges Pompidou, 1993), "La Russie entre peurs et defis" (with M. Laruelle), will be shown among his published works. Radvanyi has also contributed to the exhibition catalog of "Parajanov, with Sarkis."