The Most Famous
FILM DIRECTORS from Armenia
This page contains a list of the greatest Armenian Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 2 of which were born in Armenia. This makes Armenia the birth place of the 57th most number of Film Directors behind Montenegro, and Senegal.
Top 3
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Armenian Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Armenian Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Artavazd Peleshyan (b. 1938)
With an HPI of 51.68, Artavazd Peleshyan is the most famous Armenian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.
Artavazd Peleshyan (Armenian: Արտավազդ (Արթուր) Փելեշյան, romanized: Artavazd (Art’ur) P’eleshyan; also Pelechian, Peleshian; born February 22, 1938) is an Armenian director of essay films, a documentarian in the history of film art, a screenwriter, and a film theorist. He is renowned for developing a style of cinematographic perspective known as distance montage, combining perception of depth with oncoming entities, such as running packs of antelope or hordes of humans. Filmmaker Sergei Parajanov has referred to Peleshyan as "one of the few authentic geniuses in the world of cinema". Peleshyan was awarded the title of Merited Artist of the Armenian SSR in 1979, and Merited Artist of the Russian Federation in 1995. His films have been described as being on the border between a documentary and a feature film, somewhat reminiscent of the work of such avant-garde filmmakers as Bruce Conner, rather than of conventional documentaries. However, it has been noted that his work, unlike Maya Deren's, is not firmly within the avant-garde, and that it does not try to explore the absurd. Peleshyan's films have been summarized as "a poetic view of life transferred onto film." He has made extensive use of archive footage and for the first time used only original footage in his most celebrated film, Seasons of the Year, shot by cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov. Telephoto lenses are often used to get "candid camera" shots of people engaging in mundane tasks. Most of Peleshyan's films are short, ranging from 6 to about 60 minutes long, and feature no dialogue. However, music and sound effects play nearly as important a role in his films as the visual images in contributing towards the artistic whole. Nearly all of his films were shot in black-and-white.
2. Hamo Beknazarian (1891 - 1965)
With an HPI of 49.07, Hamo Beknazarian is the 2nd most famous Armenian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Hamo Beknazarian (Armenian: Համո Բեկնազարյան; Russian: Амбарцум Бек-Назаров; 19 May 1891 – 27 April 1965), also known as Hamo Bek-Nazarov or Amo Bek-Nazarian, was an Armenian film director, actor and screenwriter.
3. Edmond Keosayan (1936 - 1994)
With an HPI of 46.24, Edmond Keosayan is the 3rd most famous Armenian Film Director. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Edmond Gareginovich Keosayan (Armenian: Էդմոնդ Քյոսայան; Russian: Эдмонд Гарегинович Кеосаян; 9 October 1936 – 21 April 1994) was an Armenian Soviet film director and musician. 1952-54 — worked in Yerevan watch factory. 1954-56 — studied in Plekhanov Moscow Institute of Economy. 1956-58 — studied in Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography, worked as a compere. 1964 — graduated from the Directing Department of VGIK (Efim Dzigan's master class). Since 1964 — director at Mosfilm Studio. Occasionally worked at Armenfilm Studio. He was also a compere of the Soviet State Variety Orchestra. His films are mainly in the Armenian and Russian languages. He died on 21 April 1994 and was buried in the Kuntsevo Cemetery.
People
Pantheon has 3 people classified as Armenian film directors born between 1891 and 1938. Of these 3, 1 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Armenian film directors include Artavazd Peleshyan. The most famous deceased Armenian film directors include Hamo Beknazarian, and Edmond Keosayan. As of April 2024, 1 new Armenian film directors have been added to Pantheon including Edmond Keosayan.
