In person: Peter Rollberg and Joseph Horowitz

Known as the father of Armenian cinema, Hamo Bek-Nazaryan (1892–1965) stands with Eisenstein, Pudovkin, and Dovzhenko in the history of cinema. A popular actor in pre-Revolutionary Russian film, he was also a founder of the Hayfilm (Armenfilm) studio in Yerevan. His vivid sound film Zangezur chronicles Armenia’s civil war in the 1920s, depicting the Bolsheviks’ efforts in the mountainous Zangezur region to defeat the Dashnaks, the counterrevolutionary rulers of the area. Zangezur was a trendsetter for Armenian revolutionary drama, and the soundtrack by Aram Khachaturian features folkloric songs, a march, and two beautifully lyrical interludes. Film scholar Peter Rollberg and PostClassical Ensemble Executive Director Joseph Horowitz will discuss Khachaturian’s career and show additional clips. (Dir.: Hamo Bek-Nazaryan, Armenia, 1938, 89 minutes, DCP, Armenian with English subtitles)