The Colour of Pomegranates + Introduction

Telling the story of Sayat-Nova, an eighteenth-century Armenian poet, through an unconventional narrative, Sergei Parajanov uses a series of static, ritualised and painterly tableaux rooted in the poet’s verse. Divided into thematic chapters including Childhood, Youth, the Prince’s Court, the Monastery and Death, the work narrates Sayat-Nova’s internal journey: his introduction to beauty, devotion to a muse, monastic withdrawal and death. Figures, garments, fauna and religious objects are shot in the two-dimensional style of Armenian manuscript illuminations and Persian miniatures. Shot with a static camera, every image looks like a painting. By drawing on Armenian folk customs, craft traditions and heritage through symbolic imagery, Parajanov’s aesthetic directly challenged Soviet socialist realism. Consequently, authorities suppressed, re-cut and restricted the film’s distribution for decades.

This screening will be introduced by Ali Lalfam, the season curator.

The Colour of Pomegranates, dir. Sergei Parajanov, Armenia 1969, 78 min.

This programme is curated by Ali Lalfam in partnership with the National Film and Television School and the ICA. Ali Lalfam is an MFA student in Film Curation and Programming at the National Film and Television School. His curatorial practice concerns cinema with a distinctive aesthetic, scale and psychosocial depth, exploring overlooked aspects of culture across world cinema, with a particular specialism in Iranian cinema.