Saved from Oblivion: Restored outtakes of The Color of Pomegranates  debuted at Parajanov Museum On Armenian Cinema Day

ArmInfo. To mark International Cinema Day,  the Sergei Parajanov Museum has unveiled  the  "Temple of Cinema,"  an exceptional exhibition, featuring  restored footage from the 1968 masterpiece "The Color of  Pomegranates". These scenes, once  "lost to oblivion" after being cut  from the final edit, offer a rare glimpse into the director's  expansive original vision.

As museum director Anahit Mikaelyan noted, the current exhibition  only covers a small portion of the footage, restored seven years ago.  There are plans for a larger project that will bring together the  entire legacy of "The Color of Pomegranates." According to her, this  initiative, in partnership with the Gyumri Museum of Urban Life and  National Architecture (the Dzitoghtsyan Museum), was originally  planned for 2023, but the well-known tragic events of that period  prevented it from happening.

The Armenian Cinema Foundation supported the project and expressed  its willingness to facilitate its implementation in Gyumri, as  previously planned. In an interview with an ArmInfo correspondent,  Mikaelyan also emphasized that the installation was conceived as a  multi-layered cultural event-it was to be accompanied by lectures and  performances by art historians, ethnographers, musicians, and clergy,  who would help further explore the director's vision from various  perspectives.

Tigran Mansuryan, who composed the music for the film "The Color of  Pomegranates," was also among the event's guests. He recalled that  before Sergei Parajanov, an autobiographical film about Sayat-Nova  was made. "And this man made it in keeping with his own style.  Parajanov made a film that matched his scale," the maestro noted.

Mansuryan emphasized that it's one thing to collect and analyze  biographical facts, and quite another to create a coherent world. He  believes that if Sayat-Nova could see the film today, he would  embrace it. The composer also noted that the great ashugh's biography  is full of gaps and doesn't provide a comprehensive picture of him,  whereas Parajanov managed to present this material in a different  light.

He sharply opposed any attempts to rationally compartmentalize the  film: "If someone wants to squeeze it into a box, that's their right.  But for me, that's insulting. Parajanov is a phenomenon of a  different order; he transcends all boundaries. I'm happy that at the  age of thirty, I had the opportunity to be involved with this film.  This happens once in a lifetime."

Earlier, ArmInfo  reported that the digitization and restoration of  the film was carried out by the Polish film company Fixafilm, under  the direction of Deputy Director Lukasz Sieranka. Out of the 103 film  canisters stored in the Cinema Center's archive, 27 were sent to  Poland. The installation was first presented at the Rotterdam Film  Festival in the Arminius Church, where it generated great interest  among international film critics and industry representatives. In  Yerevan, the "Temple of Cinema" project was shown to the general  public as part of the Golden Apricot Film Festival in July 2019, in  the semi-abandoned Ayrarat Cinema.

Earlier, in a conversation with an ArmInfo correspondent, the  museum's late founder, Zaven Sargsyan, a photographer and a friend of  Parajanov, called the event a true triumph for the director. "This is  his best film about our country, which, unfortunately, did not  receive any significant official awards. But, as Parajanov himself  said, time puts everything in its place. I think that time has  already come. The film's production was fraught with suffering,  including because many of the shots we see today weren't included in  the final version," he noted. The "Temple of Cinema" exhibition at  the Sergei Parajanov Museum will be open to visitors until May 16.