Revivals
Pelechian Project Program 1
Artavazd Pelechian
Restored under the supervision of Artavazd Pelechian, now 88, these short films blur the categories of documentary essay and the poetic avant-garde.
- Runtime
- 79 min
- Country
- USSR/
Armenia - More information
- Official film page
Screenings
Long a figure of cultish devotion but still too little known in the U.S., the Armenian filmmaker Artavazd Pelechian once said, while speaking to Jean-Luc Godard, that “film relies on three factors: space, time, and real movement.” Combining archival and original footage, and blurring the categories of documentary essay and the poetic avant-garde, Pelechian’s visionary works revolve around a grand recurring theme of humankind’s tumultuous relationship to the natural world. A spiritual and theoretical descendant of great Soviet filmmakers like Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein, Pelechian evolved their pioneering editing techniques into a method he termed “distance montage,” which, instead of forging linear associations, sought to create “a magnetic field around the film.” The films in these two programs—restored under the supervision of Pelechian, now 88—span more than three decades and constitute a near-complete survey of his extraordinary body of work.
Restoration of Artavazd Pelechian’s films launched by Coproduction Office in partnership with Cineteca di Bologna under the director’s supervision. Best available elements selected by the director and scanned in 4K at the Public Television Company of Armenia. Restoration and color grading carried out by L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. In association with Cinema Foundation of Armenia, Public Television Company of Armenia, VGIK. Additional support by ZDF/ARTE, ArMa Media Production LLC, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Mountain Patrol / Լեռնային պարեկներ
1964, 10m
North American Premiere of New 4K Restoration
Mountain Patrol
Made at the legendary Russian film school VGIK while Pelechian was a student, this early short film shows the daily labor of men tasked with clearing the way for train passage through the Armenian mountains.
Land of the People / Մարդկանց երկիրը
1966, 11m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
Land of the People
A striking portrait of labor and human thought, bookended by a roving visual meditation on Rodin’s “The Thinker.”
We / Մենք
1969, 27m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
We
The question of Armenian identity and the very fate of the Armenian people seem to be at stake in this kinetic, formally convulsive work.
The Seasons / Տարվա եղանակները
1975, 31m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
The Seasons
In what is often considered Pelechian’s magnum opus, the ancient antagonism of nature and humanity plays out in a depiction of a remote farming community, energetically scored with Armenian folk music and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
Long a figure of cultish devotion but still too little known in the U.S., the Armenian filmmaker Artavazd Pelechian once said, while speaking to Jean-Luc Godard, that “film relies on three factors: space, time, and real movement.” Combining archival and original footage, and blurring the categories of documentary essay and the poetic avant-garde, Pelechian’s visionary works revolve around a grand recurring theme of humankind’s tumultuous relationship to the natural world. A spiritual and theoretical descendant of great Soviet filmmakers like Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein, Pelechian evolved their pioneering editing techniques into a method he termed “distance montage,” which, instead of forging linear associations, sought to create “a magnetic field around the film.” The films in these two programs—restored under the supervision of Pelechian, now 88—span more than three decades and constitute a near-complete survey of his extraordinary body of work.
Restoration of Artavazd Pelechian’s films launched by Coproduction Office in partnership with Cineteca di Bologna under the director’s supervision. Best available elements selected by the director and scanned in 4K at the Public Television Company of Armenia. Restoration and color grading carried out by L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. In association with Cinema Foundation of Armenia, Public Television Company of Armenia, VGIK. Additional support by ZDF/ARTE, ArMa Media Production LLC, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Mountain Patrol / Լեռնային պարեկներ
1964, 10m
North American Premiere of New 4K Restoration
Mountain Patrol
Made at the legendary Russian film school VGIK while Pelechian was a student, this early short film shows the daily labor of men tasked with clearing the way for train passage through the Armenian mountains.
Land of the People / Մարդկանց երկիրը
1966, 11m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
Land of the People
A striking portrait of labor and human thought, bookended by a roving visual meditation on Rodin’s “The Thinker.”
We / Մենք
1969, 27m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
We
The question of Armenian identity and the very fate of the Armenian people seem to be at stake in this kinetic, formally convulsive work.
The Seasons / Տարվա եղանակները
1975, 31m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
The Seasons
In what is often considered Pelechian’s magnum opus, the ancient antagonism of nature and humanity plays out in a depiction of a remote farming community, energetically scored with Armenian folk music and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.