The documentary film, Parajanov. A Ticket to Eternity, was commissioned by Current Time and directed by RFE/RL Armenian Service Director Harry Tamrazian. It is a portrait of the legendary Soviet filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, who was revered by audiences in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Russia, and by film aficionados around the world. It was premiered in March, 2018 at the annual DocuDays film festival in Kyiv’s landmark movie theater “Ukraine” for a packed hall that included luminaries from the film world, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, and people who knew Parajanov in art and life. When asked if he was afraid to make a film about such a towering figure, Tamrazian answered that it was Parajanov “who was making the film,” and that as it evolved, “he taught me how to make the film.”
Audience members praised the film as “a real light in art,” and said Parajanov’s “spirit was there.”