This year, Armenian cinema celebrates its 100th anniversary. On this occasion, screenings of Armenian films will be held within the framework of the Tbilisi Film Festival, in cooperation with the National Center of Cinematography of Armenia.
Section: „Country in Focus“ will screen feature films by Amo Bek-Nazarov, a film director working in Tbilisi in the 1920s, a pioneer of Armenian cinema, and the author of the first Armenian feature film.
„"House on the Volcano" (USSR 1929, 63') and "The Land of Nairi" (USSR 1930, 67')
The Apollo: Memory of Cinema section will host a retrospective of Tbilisi-born, Armenian-American director Ruben Mamouliani. The retrospective is sponsored by the United States Embassy.
Ruben Mamouliani's films will be shown:
„"Applause" – USA, 1929.
„"Love Me Tonight" – USA, 1932.
„"Mark of Zorro" – USA, 1940.
„"Blood and Sand" (Blood and Sand) USA, 1941.
„"Silk Stockings" – USA, 1957.
American director of Armenian descent, Ruben Mamuliani was born in Tbilisi on October 8, 1897. Ruben's father was a banker, and his mother worked at the Tbilisi Armenian Theater. Under his mother's influence, Ruben became interested in and actively involved in theatrical art from an early age, and in 1918 he formed his own drama circle in Tbilisi.
Ruben Mamoulian began his theatrical career at the age of 25, when his first stage production in London received a great response. After that, he traveled to the United States and settled in Georgetown, New York. Eastman He staged operas and operettas at the theater.
Ruben Mamuliani's career in cinema coincided with the introduction of sound cinema in Hollywood. Mamuliani approached the new challenge of cinema creatively. He was the first to implement synthetic stereo recording of sound with two microphones. The director behind the scenes VoiceA used it to express the hero's thoughts, and the film was shot entirely from the pavilion to the city streets. GoItana. He was also one of the first to start shooting with two cameras, thus adding an additional perspective to a single action.
Mamuliani also took an innovative approach to the introduction of color cinema. The director used the ideas of the American scholar, Herbert Calamus three-color system and shot the world's first fully color full-length feature film, "Becky" Sharpie“" (1935). This system later created a new production standard in the formation of color cinema.
Marlene, along with other famous actors, participated in Mamouliani's films. Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Morrison Chevalier and Elizabeth Taylor.
Ruben Mamouliani's films: "Applause", "Becky" Sharpie“" and "The Mark of Zorro" American films National He is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and his star is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1982, a few years before his death, Mamuliani was awarded the highest award of the Directors Guild of America – the David Work Griffith The prize was awarded.
Ruben Mamuliani’s childhood and youth are closely connected with his hometown – Tbilisi. As is known, Ruben Mamuliani visited Tbilisi while attending one of the film festivals in the Soviet Union and visited the yard of his childhood. Entering the yard, an elderly man of his generation recognized him and called out from the balcony: „Ruben, is that you, boy?”
In Tbilisi, SaintThere is still a memorial plaque on the wall of number 13 on Petersburg Street today, which informs us: "Ruben Mamuliani was born in this house in 1897 and lived there until 1922.".
