/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Sergei Paradjanov Festival in London and Bristol was opened with Yuri Mechitov’s photographic exhibition at the National Theatre Monday, February 22.

The exhibition is composed of rarely seen photographs taken by Georgian photographer Yuri Mechitov during his 11 year friendship with the director.

The Sergei Paradjanov Festival in London and Bristol is the first major celebration of the legendary artist and filmmaker whose talent transcends religious and political boarders, drawing on the cultural traditions of Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Russia.

The Festival aims to present the life and works of Sergei Paradjanov to UK audiences through a series of diverse events that include: a film season; a moving image installation; a symposium and a workshop at the BFI Southbank; a photographic exhibition at the National Theatre; screenings and talks at Pushkin House; a concert at St. Yeghiche Armenian Church; a film retrospective at Arnolfini (Bristol); and a photographic exhibition at The Bristol Gallery.

"The films of Sergei Paradjanov have always captivated me with their unique cinematic language and the poetic strength of their imagination. For me, Paradjanov is like a slap in the face to banality, harshness, self-interest and general uniformity," festival organiser Layla Alexander-Garrett said.

The festival will last till March 28.

Sergei Paradjanov (1924-1990) is one of the 20th century's greatest masters of cinema. An Armenian born in Georgia, Paradjanov studied film in Moscow, worked in Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia. He started making films in 1954 and is celebrated for his poetic and visionary films including The Colour of Pomegranates (1968) and Ashik Kerib (1988).

A winner of British Academy Award for the "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", Paradjanov was a constant target of Soviet authorities; deprived of the opportunity to make films for fifteen years, five of which were spent in hard labour camps, he found the most vibrant means of expressing his talent through drawings, collages and writing.