This year, Armenian cinema celebrates its hundredth anniversary. In this regard, within the framework of the Tbilisi Film Festival, in cooperation with the Armenian National Film Center, screenings of Armenian films will be held.
The "Country in Focus" section will showcase the feature films of Amo Bek-Nazarov, a film director who worked in Tbilisi in the twenties of the 20th century and was a pioneer of Armenian cinema. He is also the author of the first Armenian feature film, "House on the Volcano" (USSR 1929, 63') and "The Land of Nairi" (USSR 1930, 67').
(House on the Volcano – USSR 1929, 63’) (The Land of Nairi – USSR 1930, 67’)
The "Apollo: Memory of Cinema" section will host a retrospective of Ruben Mamoulian, an American director of Armenian descent born in Tbilisi. This retrospective is sponsored by the Embassy of the United States of America.
The films to be featured in the retrospective include:
"Applause" (USA, 1929)
"Love Me Tonight" (USA, 1932)
"Mark of Zorro" (USA, 1940)
"Blood and Sand" (USA, 1941)
"Silk Stockings" (USA, 1957)
American director of Armenian descent რუბენ Ruben Mamoulian, born on October 8, 1897, in Tbilisi, had a father who was a banker, and his mother worked in the Armenian Theater of Tbilisi. Under his mother's influence, Ruben became interested in and actively involved in theater arts from an early age. In 1918, he formed his own drama circle in Tbilisi.
Ruben Mamoulian began his theater career at the age of 25, and his first stage performance in London received great acclaim. He then went to the United States and staged operas and operettas at the George Eastman Theater in New York.
Mamoulian's entry into cinema coincided with the introduction of sound cinema in Hollywood. He approached this new challenge creatively, being the first to implement synthetic stereo sound recording with two microphones. The director used the voicehe was გაamong the first to shoot with two cameras, providing an additional angle of view to a single action.
In terms of color cinema, Mamoulian innovatively used the three-color system of the American scholar Herbert Kalmus, creating the world's first fully colored full-length feature film, "Becky Sharp" (1935). This system laterbecame a new standard in color cinema production.
Mamoulian's films featured renowned actors such as Marlene Dietrich,Greta Garbo,Maurice Chevalier, and Elizabeth Taylor.
"Applause," "Becky Sharp," and "The Mark of Zorro" are included in the National Register of American Films, laterand Mamoulian has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1982, a few years before his death, he was awarded Award, the highest honor of the Directors Guild of America. the D.W. Griffith
Ruben Mamoulian's childhood and youth are closely connected with his native city, Tbilisi. During one of his visits to Tbilisi for a film festival in the Soviet Union, Mamoulian revisited his childhood yard. A man from his own generation recognized the elderly man entering the yard and called out from the balcony: "Ruben, is that you, boy?"
There is still a memorial plaque on the wallof 13 St. Petersburg Street in Tbilisi, indicating: "Ruben Mamoulian was born in this house in 1897 and lived until 1922."