Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov (Russian: Каре́н Гео́ргиевич Шахназа́ров; born 8 July 1952) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter.[1] He became the director general of Mosfilm[2] in 1998.

Karen Shakhnazarov
Карен Шахназаров
Shakhnazarov in 2019
Born
Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov

(1952-07-08) 8 July 1952 (age 72)
Alma materGerasimov Institute of Cinematography
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1980–present
TitlePeople's Artist of Russia (2002) (2023)

Biography

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Shakhnazarov is the son of a Georgy Shakhnazarov, a politician of Armenian descent, and a Russian housewife, Anna Grigorievna Shakhnazarova.[3][4] Shakhnazarov is one of several living descendants of the famous Melik-Shahnazarian princely family from Nagorno-Karabakh. The Melik-Shahnazarians ruled Nagorno-Karabakh's province of Varanda in medieval and modern times.[5]

His 1987 film Courier was entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Special Prize.[6] In 2002 he was a member of the jury at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival.[7] Since 2005 he has been a member of the Public Chamber of Russia.[citation needed]

His 2012 film White Tiger was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.[8]

Political and public activity

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Shakhnazarov receiving the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of literature and art, 2013
 
Shakhnazarov at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, 2018

In 1998, Shakhnazarov was appointed a member of the board of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Cinematography.[9]

In April 2000, Shakhnazarov signed a letter supporting the policy of the recently elected Russian President Vladimir Putin in Chechnya.[10][11]

In 2001, Shakhnazarov was appointed a member of the board of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.[12]

From 2006 to 2011, Shakhnazarov was a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.[13] He was Deputy Chairman of the Commission for Cultural Development and, since 2008, Chairman of the Commission for Culture.

Since January 2012, Shakhnazarov has been a member of the "People's Headquarters" for the city of Moscow of Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin.[14]

In March 2014, Shakhnazarov supported the annexation of Crimea and signed a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in support of the annexation.[15][16][17] For this he was banned from entering Ukraine.[18][19]

In September 2016, Shakhnazarov became a trusted representative of the United Russia party in the 2016 Russian legislative election.[13]

In January 2018, Shakhnazarov became a trusted representative of Vladimir Putin in the 2018 Russian presidential election.[20] Also in 2018, he became a trusted representative of Moscow mayoral candidate Sergey Sobyanin.[13][21]

On 15 January 2020, Shakhnazarov was included in the working group for preparing proposals to amend the Constitution of Russia.[13][22]

On 24 February 2022, Shakhnazarov publicly supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[23]

On 28 April 2022, on the Russia-1 TV channel, Shakhnazarov threatened critics of the war with mass reprisals:

These opponents of the letter "Z" must understand that if they expect that they will be spared, no, they will not be spared. Everything is getting serious now. If anything happens, this means concentration camps, re-education, so to speak, sterilization.[23][24][25]

He later stated that his words were "taken out of context."[23]

On 10 March 2022, during a broadcast on Russia-1, Shakhnazarov[26] called for an end to the invasion of Ukraine, saying that the situation was at risk of becoming "an absolute humanitarian disaster", and that there is no realistic possibility for the Russian forces to seize Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities.[27]

At a meeting of 13 November 2024 with President Putin Shakhnazarov stated that Mosfilm had handed over to the Russian Armed Forces in 2023 28 T-55 tanks, 8 PT-76 tanks, 6 infantry fighting vehicles and 8 tow trucks.[2]

Selected filmography

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Year English title Original title
1984 We Are from Jazz Мы из джаза
1985 Winter Evening in Gagra Зимний вечер в Гаграх
1987 The Messenger Boy Курьер
1988 Zero City Город Зеро
1991 The Assassin of the Tsar Цареубийца
1993 Dreams Сны
1995 American Daughter Американская дочь
1998 Day of the Full Moon День полнолуния
2001 Poisons or the World History of Poisoning Яды, или Всемирная история отравлений
2004 The Rider Named Death Всадник по имени смерть
2008 Vanished Empire Исчезнувшая империя
2009 Ward Number 6 Палата № 6
2012 White Tiger Белый тигр
2017 Anna Karenina: Vronsky's Story Анна Каренина
2023 Khitrovka. The Sign of Four Хитровка. Знак четырёх

References

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  1. ^ Peter Rollberg (2016). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 660–661. ISBN 978-1442268425.
  2. ^ a b "Russia sends film studio's military equipment from 1950s to war". Ukrainska Pravda. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  3. ^ Karen Shakhnazarov on the Life Line talk show by Russia-K, 2010
  4. ^ Profile on the Snob journal (in Russian)
  5. ^ Карен ШАХНАЗАРОВ: «Я не экранизирую свою жизнь» Archived 28 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "15th Moscow International Film Festival (1987)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  7. ^ "24th Moscow International Film Festival (2002)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  8. ^ "Karen Shakhnazarov's "White Tiger"nominated for Oscar". PanArmenian. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Распоряжение Правительства Российской Федерации от 06.11.1998 г. № 1592-р" [Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 6 November 1998 No. 1592-r] (in Russian).
  10. ^ Strelyany, Anatoly [in Russian] (9 April 2000). "Русская обида (Письмо двадцати одного)" [Russian Resentment (Letter of Twenty-One)]. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Russian). Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Ответ на письмо европейцев российских деятелей культуры" [Response to a letter from Europeans to Russian cultural figures]. Index (in Russian). 2000. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Распоряжение Правительства Российской Федерации от 03.05.2001 г. № 624-р" [Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 3 May 2001 No. 624-r] (in Russian).
  13. ^ a b c d Prokofiev, Vyacheslav. "Шахназаров Карен Георгиевич" [Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich]. tass.ru (in Russian). TASS. Archived from the original on 13 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Список членов «Народного штаба» на сайте putin2012.ru" [List of members of the “People’s Headquarters” on the website putin2012.ru] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Culture activists of Russia in support of the position of the President on Russia's military intervention in Ukraine and Crimea" (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Culture. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  16. ^ "Деятели культуры России поддержали Путина по Крыму" [Russian cultural figures supported Putin on Crimea]. BBC News Russian (in Russian). 12 March 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  17. ^ "Карен Шахназаров: Мне не все нравится. Но альтернативы Путину нет" [Karen Shakhnazarov: I don’t like everything. But there is no alternative to Putin]. Sobesednik (in Russian). Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  18. ^ "SBU issues entry ban against 140 Russian artists". UNIAN. 5 November 2016.
  19. ^ "Ukraine's State Security Service bans 140 Russian cultural figures from entering country". TASS news agency. 5 November 2016.
  20. ^ "ЦИК зарегистрировал 259 доверенных лиц Путина на выборах президента" [The Central Election Commission registered 259 Putin's proxies in the presidential elections]. TASS (in Russian). 12 January 2018. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018.
  21. ^ Varfolomeyev, Vladimir [in Russian] (26 August 2018). "Но есть и новички" [But there are also newcomers] (in Russian). Echo of Moscow. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  22. ^ "Поправки в Конституцию напишут Прилепин, Шахназаров и казачий атаман" [Amendments to the Constitution will be written by Prilepin, Shakhnazarov and the Cossack ataman]. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  23. ^ a b c ""Поедем, постреляем?"" [“Shall we go and shoot?”]. Prodolzhenie sleduet (in Russian). Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  24. ^ "Карен Шахназаров: Противников войны ждут стерилизация и концлагеря - видео" [Karen Shakhnazarov: Opponents of war will face sterilization and concentration camps - video]. haqqin.az. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  25. ^ "Шахназаров заявил, что критиков Z-символики ждет стерилизация и концлагеря" [Shakhnazarov said that critics of the Z-symbol will face sterilization and concentration camps]. Kun.uz (in Russian). Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Карен Шахназаров: "Спецоперация на Украине была неизбежна"". regnum. 24 February 2022.
  27. ^ "Russian state television goes off message by broadcasting criticism of war". The Telegraph. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022.
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