Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich - Russian artist, who began his career in the Soviet Union. He is the director of the cinema concern "Mosfilm".
Origin
Karen Shakhnazarov, whose nationality is obvious, comes from an ancient Armenian family. His great-grandmother (on the father's side) was the sister of General Daniel Bek-Pirumyan, who served under the king in Armenia. He became famous in the battle of Sardarapad, defeating the Turkish army. After the death of the Russian Empire, he was shot.
The director’s mother was Russian, despite this mixture of blood, Karen Shakhnazarov himself defines his nationality as Armenian and is immensely proud of it.
Biography
Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich was born in the city of Krasnodar in July 1952. His father, Georgy Khosroevich, was a lawyer and politician, his mother, Anna Grigoryevna, was engaged in raising her son. Karen Georgievich recalls that their house was always open for guests, and although parents were not related to theatrical circles, there were many artists among friends.
Since childhood, Shakhnazarov loved to read and play sports (swimming, football). He was also not indifferent to painting and even wanted to enter the corresponding faculty, but after graduation he decided to study directing at VGIK.
Karen Shakhnazarov graduated from high school in 1975. His first official cinematic activity was the work of assistant director Igor Talankin in the film "Target Selection". Shakhnazarov gained recognition of the audience in 1983, when the musical film "We Are From Jazz", shot according to his script, was released. The picture received several prestigious awards.
In 1998, Karen Shakhnazarov became the general director of Mosfilm. He still leads directorial activities, often appears on television, and is engaged in literary work.
Personal life
Karen Shakhnazarov, whose personal life has become a byword, claims that he always put work in the first place. Perhaps that is why now he can not be called a family man, although he was married three times in his life.
Shakhnazarov’s first marriage broke up pretty quickly (lasted about a year), and little is known about his wife Elena. She is not a public person. She graduated from the History Department of Moscow State University. It is noteworthy that the wedding with Elena was the only one in the director’s life, held in accordance with the traditions: a white dress of the bride, a suit of the groom, many guests. All the rest passed without magnificent ceremonies.
The second wife of Karen Shakhnazarov Alena left the director and, taking her daughter Anna, emigrated to the United States. There were rumors that Elena simply could not stand the constant betrayal of her husband and fled from Russia to a better life. Now their common daughter Anna is almost thirty years old, she met her father only after twenty years of separation. Now they occasionally communicate. Karen Georgievich notes that she became an absolute American, although she speaks Russian a little.
About his third wife - Daria Mayorova - Shakhnazarov said that it was love at first sight. The director shot the lover in his film, and later they got married. From this marriage two sons were born, whom Karen Shakhnazarov is very proud of. The family was replenished in 1993 with his son Ivan, three years later, Vasily was born. However, the director’s third marriage also broke up.
Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich and cinema
Karen Shakhnazarov had a clear goal. He knew what he wanted to achieve in the cinema. Therefore, he quickly grew from a simple assistant to a second director. He worked a lot with George Danelia. And already in 1979, he released his first film, "Kind."
Four years later, the film “We Are From Jazz” was released, which loudly announced Shakhnazarov, the director and screenwriter. This picture was recognized as the best among music films for 1983.
Karen Shakhnazarov, whose films can be called universal, always said that he works only for the viewer. Perhaps that is why all of his paintings became popular at the time and were repeatedly celebrated at international festivals.
Shakhnazarov is not afraid to try something new or speak frankly about his life in his own works. So he was one of the first to invite foreign actors to his movie (Malcolm MacDowell in “The Killer”, Marcello Mastroianni was to play a role in “Ward No. 6”), shot the film “American Daughter” with autobiographical inserts.
One of the recent works of the director is the film "White Tiger". This is his debut in military cinema and the most ambitious film in his work. After reading this story, Shakhnazarov decided after reading Ilya Boyashov’s story “Tanker,” in which he saw a different view of military events. The budget of the film was eleven million dollars. The film was so successful that it was nominated for an Oscar, it won a prize at the Pyongyang Film Festival, as well as several other international and national festivals.
In addition to his directorial and screenwriting activities, Karen Shakhnazarov is actively engaged in producing films. The films "Who, If Not Us", "Star", "We Are From Jazz-2" came out with his support.
Literary activity
In addition to his main cinematic activities, Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov is engaged in writing. His father instilled a love of literature in his very early childhood. As the director himself notes, his father was a very erudite and well-read person, so the craving for books simply could not help but arise.
Shakhnazarov created many scenarios for his films, the hallmark of which is the presence of fantastic notes. For example, in the scenarios for the paintings "Regicide", "Dreams." For the film script "City of Zero," he received a prize from the Eurocon Science Fiction Society.
Shakhnazarov also wrote the novel Courier, which received the literary prize of Boris Polevoy.
Social activity
Karen Shakhnazarov strongly advocates the development of the technical process in film production, arguing that without good support, excellent film works will not work. All his activities as the director of Mosfilm are aimed at the development and implementation of innovative technologies.
The director considers the inaccessibility of cinematographic education to be another fundamental problem.
Shakhnazarov expresses his political views quite clearly. He supported the candidacy of V.V. Putin before the 2012 elections, and also became one of those who signed a petition in support of government action in Ukraine and the Crimea.
Awards
For his activities, Karen Shakhnazarov was repeatedly awarded the State Prize of Russia (in the field of cinema for 2002, in the field of literature and art for 2012).
Shakhnazarov - holder of the Order of Honor, the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, the Armenian Order of Honor. He is a People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, and his films have more than once been laureates of prestigious film awards (Golden Eagle, Nika, Golden Pegasus).
Interesting Facts
- Among the director's hobbies are swimming and driving.
- The eldest son, Ivan, is studying for a film director. His short film competed in the Kinotavr. He also acts in films as an actor.
- Shakhnazarov claims that he regrets one thing in life: at the age of seventeen, he broke up with his first girlfriend.
- If you had to start life from the beginning, then Karen Georgievich would go to a military school and become a pilot.