Revivals
Pelechian Project Program 2
Artavazd Pelechian
Spanning the late 1960s to the early 1990s, these restored films of Artavazd Pelechian complete a career-spanning survey of his extraordinary body of work.
- Runtime
- 77 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.
The Beginning
1967, 9m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
The Beginning
The October Revolution of 1917 comes to life through Pelechian’s unique stuttering montage in this analytical, staccato counterpoint to Eisenstein’s October.
Our Century
1982, 52m
North American Premiere of New 4K Restoration
A jarring, provocative work alternating between images of a rocket launch and scenes of failed experiments in aviation, Our Century is, in Pelechian’s words, “a film about us, about me, about what I’m striving for, what we’re all striving for, every person, humanity. And this desire to ascend, to transcend, is literally embodied in the cosmonauts.”
The End
1992, 9m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
A staggering meditation on landscapes and travel, The End captures a train ride from Moscow to Yerevan, rendered by Pelechian as a kind of hymn outside of time, conjured through the mystery of the human face, the rumbling of mechanized transport, and the revelatory play of light. Note: The End will also screen in Currents Program 2: The Visible Invisible.
Life
1993, 7m
North American Premiere of New 4K Restoration
A rare color film for Pelechian, in which a woman’s face movingly fills the frame as she gives birth.
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.
The Beginning
1967, 9m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
The Beginning
The October Revolution of 1917 comes to life through Pelechian’s unique stuttering montage in this analytical, staccato counterpoint to Eisenstein’s October.
Our Century
1982, 52m
North American Premiere of New 4K Restoration
A jarring, provocative work alternating between images of a rocket launch and scenes of failed experiments in aviation, Our Century is, in Pelechian’s words, “a film about us, about me, about what I’m striving for, what we’re all striving for, every person, humanity. And this desire to ascend, to transcend, is literally embodied in the cosmonauts.”
The End
1992, 9m
U.S. Premiere of New 4K Restoration
A staggering meditation on landscapes and travel, The End captures a train ride from Moscow to Yerevan, rendered by Pelechian as a kind of hymn outside of time, conjured through the mystery of the human face, the rumbling of mechanized transport, and the revelatory play of light. Note: The End will also screen in Currents Program 2: The Visible Invisible.
Life
1993, 7m
North American Premiere of New 4K Restoration
A rare color film for Pelechian, in which a woman’s face movingly fills the frame as she gives birth.