Yervant gianikian biography examples

In February 2018, significance Italian artist and filmmaker Angela Ricci Lucchi passed away adjacent over 40 years of politically charged moving image work take up again her longtime partner and collaborationist Yervant Gianikian. With their inherent use of archival imagery—concerning oft-overlooked instances of 20th-century violence—the brace were pioneers of a identical of essayistic, montage-based filmmaking think it over subjected found materials to include assortment of rephotography and extra-sensory effects.

As evident in specified landmark works as From illustriousness Pole to the Equator (1987), comprised of repurposed footage eliminate colonial expansion originally shot dampen the Italian filmmaker Luca Comerio, or a series of “scented films” that paired the couple’s frequently troubling imagery with orderly variety of soothing fragrances, illustriousness pair skillfully worked to appeal all aspects of the medium.

In the time since Ricci Lucchi’s death, Gianikian has embarked become a more personal journey owing to the couple’s own archives.

Angela’s Diaries is a thus distant two-part tribute to their position relationship in which Gianikian combines footage of the duo’s true and professional lives with proportionate excerpts from Ricci Lucchi’s handwritten notebooks and images of relation luminous watercolor sketches. In discomfited report for Film Comment from the 2019 International Film Anniversary Rotterdam, I described the series’ first entry, Angela’s Diaries: Filmmakers (2018), as both “a primer on this sorely under-recognized duo and an exquisite ditch of personal-poetic nonfiction.” The support, Angela’s Diaries: Chapter Two, continues the excavation but pivots overexert the earlier film’s focus harmonize the couple’s home life survive European travels to their long tour through the U.S.

gravel the early ’80s (with discontinue at a variety of covered film organizations in New Dynasty, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and a more recent, revelatory trip to Jerusalem. Across both films, a vision of be in motion, love, community, and art emerges that’s impossibly tender—even inspiring.

Following nobility presentation of Angela’s Diaries: Crutch Two at IFFR 2020, Gianikian and I began an email exchange about this unique uninterrupted project, its symbolic resonance, with the addition of how, moving forward, we may well be forced to rethink bric- of the cinematic experience.

In influence first scene of Angela’s Diaries: Chapter Two there’s an question with a man who speaks about the “cellar” where complete and Angela kept your archival footage.

Can you tell on a par a little about this cellar?

The cellar is a mark. It is the basement lecture the soul. It is top-notch metaphor for our research clear out frames and archives, and class reimagining of each which recap at the heart of go off work. Our “cellar,” in that case, alludes to the inmost space made of images ditch will emerge again, which broadcast of the violence of blue blood the gentry 20th century.

The materials individual to in our films and those not seen are part promote to an archive project that Uncontrollable promised Angela that I would carry on.

Is there an true physical place where you standing Angela stored footage over significance years?

All our private films roost video are in our smooth in Milan, where we survive and work with our isolating camera.

Can you expand on that idea of the analytic camera?

For us, “analytic” refers to dignity process of examining and re-filming frame by frame the account materials themselves.

This approach allows us to descend into influence depth of the film support, to hone in on petty details, and to intervene on prestige speed and colors of nobleness image. We used to stimulate home film materials that phenomenon had discovered in our stockroom and work with them destroy this analytical process.

In prestige second chapter of Angela’s Diaries, for example, I used unkind sequences from our film Karagoez-Catalogue 9.5 (1979-81), which comprises resources concerning Jerusalem before World Armed conflict I, during the Ottoman generation, that we originally worked delete in this way.

Can you persuade a bit about embarking wonder a second chapter in that project?

I know you’re at the present time referring to it as clever diptych, but was it universally conceived as a multi-part work?

Even while making the first Angela’s Diaries, I still didn’t fracture I would make a second-best part. The second Angela’s Diaries arises from the urgency abide by revisiting our world of lend a hand and present, and our civic and historical commitment.

The plausibility of making a third allowance of the film is budding in the power of description materials collected throughout our lives: the frames of the enter, the diaries, the readings, depiction drawings, the watercolors. The for to narrate violence is powerful. For me, among other basic questions of the work, skilful is central to give Angela a voice again.

And that means first and foremost magnificent her writings as a tabulation and compass of mine bear our time.

Can you tell person a little bit about Angela’s knack and passion for documenting your everyday lives? Based keep in good condition the amount of footage detect just these two films, boss about two always seemed to titter filming or taking photographs.

Was this something you and give someone his discussed? And had you (or her) ever revisited any a selection of this footage before beginning be troubled on these films?

Angela dear taking pictures with a 35mm instant flash camera. Sometimes while in the manner tha necessary she used the record camera or 8mm, Super 8mm, or a 16mm Kodachrome camera.

She almost always drew remarkable wrote in her diaries what we saw at home youth on the road. I was usually the one filming. Ordinary life was the action light filming everyday. It was unmixed act that came naturally infer us. We almost never reviewed our private films. Sometimes, long forgotten working, we would decide pack what we thought was urgent to say.

For example, about the war in the Balkans: it was while in leadership studio that we filmed ethics archive material related to hostilities with our 16mm analytic camera that became From the Stick 2 to the Equator. We on all occasions had a video or lp camera ready to use damage home or while traveling.

The cheeriness section of the film deed your travels around the U.S.

in the ’80s. There’s numerous incredible footage of the tentative film communities in various cities on the West Coast textile that era—Los Angeles in unswervingly. Can you talk about movie and maintaining these relationships manipulation the years, and how they brought you to places pandemonium over the world?

I’m extremely curious if you have party remembrances about this time burnt out in the U.S.: the followers, the venues (many of which are gone), the cities encroach general?

Through the thousands appreciated frames in Angela’s Diaries: Period Two our parallel diary emerges: Angela’s writing and my copies.

To tell of my tyreprints of those places and encounters today, beyond the film, course digging and relying on verbalize. For example, I remember totally well that in 1979 amazement had been invited to leadership Third International Avant-Garde film celebration in London, at the Ceremonial Film Theatre, where we showed our “scented films” for glory first time abroad.

We had on one\'s knees some pictures of the Southern Tyrolean toys for the circumstance, recovered in the places situation Gustav Mahler had composed “Song of the Earth.” And incredulity also had with us justness images filmed at the Lombroso Museum of Criminology in City.

Cesare Lombroso’s work has uniformly impressed me. That time incredulity were hosted in London compile a room where four party guests and a cat slept. Our perfumed film had spick great reception. At the graticule there were many filmmakers meander we didn’t know, like Larry Gottheim, Janis Crystal Lipzin, Writer Weinbren, and Roberta Friedman.

Ere long after, Jonas Mekas invited impractical to New York and Assortment Film Archives, and Janis wrote a nice text about oration scented films that appeared rafter Cinema News [a bi-monthly journal published by the Foundation keep Art in Cinema].

We arrived tabled New York City at 7 p.m. and Angela had first-class very high fever.

We went to a doctor; Jonas at an earlier time I were very worried. Inaccuracy telephoned us continuously in nobility house we were staying take away on Canal Street, very fasten Anthology. Despite Angela’s status surprise managed to make that better screening. Mekas said: “The big screen are good, I never got bored.” Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote take it in the Soho News.

In the meantime, Terry Artillery piece, perhaps through Jonas, organized spruce screening at L.A., at reward Filmforum in Pasadena and substitute at the Cinematheque in San Francisco. At the Los Angeles airport we received a beautiful surprise when Roberta Friedman pet us up.

There were many general public in attendance for our sweetscented films screening at Pasadena Filmforum—there were even Armenians in nobleness audience.

One of them said: “Yervant, I have not smelled Armenia.” There were people call a halt the audience even from San Diego! Terry was astonished. Phenomenon lived with Terry and tiara wife Mary for a morsel. This began a life-long packages with Los Angeles. Through them we discovered Venice, Hollywood, Beverly Hills… The color of high-mindedness sea and the light were surprising to us.

The flavors of Mexican and Japanese comestibles were also a surprise. Line up took care of Angela, who did not speak English. They spoke to us in Nation. We promised to meet again.

One thing that Angela did war cry mention in her/our journals nigh this time is that phenomenon rented a car and went to Montebello to find Aristakes Djianikian, my father’s cousin.

Noteworthy had fled Iran just earlier Komeini’s advent. His daughter confidential gone to pick him rocket in Tehran after he was widowed. I had seen him as a child in rectitude Eastern Alps where my parents lived. He was sick see my father treated him. Recognized was the confectioner of influence Shah of Persia. It was a short and exciting session.

He was surprised at gray visit; like me, he challenging tears in his eyes. Hysterical recorded some footage of him. He lived in a elegant house with a central veranda. He was surrounded by king grandchildren.

After our visit to L.A. we rented a Datsun externally automatic transmission, and we sense the drive up the slip for San Francisco.

We stopped up in Big Sur, at Rhetorician Miller’s bar, as Terry challenging Mary had suggested. In San Francisco, we met friends, substantiate went on tours in Chinatown. We stayed with Jeffrey Skoller and Stephy Beroes, who gave us the beautiful series inducing postcards of the attack paying attention President Ronald Reagan that materialize in Angela’s Diaries: Chapter Two.

The screening at the San Francisco Cinematheque went very be a bestseller. With Carmen Vigil and original friends we celebrated at righteousness sea on July 4th. Miserly was an unforgettable afternoon.

You concede earlier that you and Angela never looked at your stiffness. Can you tell me what it was like when ready to react saw some of these carbons for the first time?

Irrational imagine it was emotional. Outspoken you already have an notion that you wanted to pressure a film from this subject, or did you only make a reality that once you began board look at it?

After Angela’s difference I immediately had the intuit to continue our work squeezed together. I had never looked condescension the materials we shot, however I had precise memories worm your way in having filmed with Angela: doing private and family events, streak also our work related be carried violence and the archive.

Gorilla the same time as Frantic was watching and rediscovering honourableness footage, I immediately began prying Angela’s diaries (written mostly close in black Chinese notebooks with unmoving corners), and her drawing albums, which contain drawn and inscribed diaries along with long rolls of watercolor sketches. Some additional things emerged from her valedictory writings and drawings: her while on the Gothic Line [a German defensive line of magnanimity Italian Campaign of World Contention II] as a young mademoiselle, in the same places declared by Rossellini in Paisà (1946); her time in art nursery school in the early ’60s date Oskar Kokoschka in Salzburg, pages all about him, Dresden, fairy story South Tyrol; the summer homestead of Gustav Mahler, his attachment for Alma Mahler, and him making a doll that looked just like her—the artist’s obsession; Angela’s “crazy kids” in swell school for special needs descendants and her decision to engender up art to work luggage compartment the community and help these kids, only to return farm even greater energy to after everyone else work together.

How did you turmoil about deciding what footage paying attention wanted to include in command film?

Did it depend conclusion matching the images with goodness material in the diaries, thus there could be a agreement between the two? And extravaganza did you go about alignment the film around these episodes from your lives?

I started awaiting at all the materials Frantic had at home and manufacturing copies of them.

As Wild watched, I took note claim the hundreds of hours acquisition video in various formats, dominant of films in various formats. As far as films wish for concerned, I had high-definition digitalisation of the 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, and 35mm footage. Solution March 2018 I began forbear think about how I knowing to do the first Angela’s Diaries.

In that month Beside oneself began to rummage in make up for written diaries, notebooks, bound booklets, drawn albums (rolls from yoke meters to 18 meters future and 75 cm high) object to copy the parts that were relevant, to mark those go wool-gathering could possibly serve me. Unrestrainable had the feeling that Uncontrollable was still working with her walking papers, as we always had go out with the years—sensing, somehow, that phenomenon were continuing the work together.

On the basis of what Beside oneself was discovering in her concealed diaries, I filled notebooks memo descriptions of the film capital made by us both join up, those that related to honourableness diaries.

It was a far ahead catalogue of filmed images. What I was seeing seemed newfound to me, even though astonishment had been the ones carry out shoot the scenes of after everything else lives. I was looking fetch the correspondence between the filmed images and the handwritten quarrel of Angela. I structured greatness two films following some new and not-so-recent moments in weighing scales life as artists and filmmakers: public presentations of our disused shown in museums, such although our “Non Non Non” provide at Hangar Bicocca in 2012; our installations at the City Art Biennales in 2001 put forward 2015; our great retrospective be neck and neck the 2015 Beaubourg; and interaction six-channel, 400-minute Journey to Russia installation at Documenta 14 proclaim 2017, our longest work widen the Russian avant-garde, which amazement had started in 1989.

Much give a rough idea the first film documents after everyone else travels to search various chronicle, mixed with images of in the nick of time private life between our constituent in Milan and the rural area in Piedmont where we preserve our personal archive.

With Angela’s Diaries: Chapter Two I lacked to remember our American crossing, especially the two-month tour slap 1981 we just discussed. Near was a great humanity bill the filmmakers community who spare us during the trip, neat as a pin tour where we sometimes matte lost, and during which Angela was sick. It was lid for us to document loftiness great commitment and mission bank this community, which we gnome while traveling with our big screen, and which helped keep be in this world an era of independent cinema.

We filmed all the people miracle met on the tour, recoil the groups linked to integrity American avant-garde who gathered defeat our screenings.

We recorded resistance the cinemas and screens swing we showed our films. Pasadena’s Filmforum was in a stool pigeon bank, the safe at magnanimity entrance and the old black wooden doors were still uncover evidence. Outside L.A. we photographed some of the ancient chronological cinemas: the El Rey, birth Gordon, the Alcazar Theatre display Carpinteria.

I also inserted unkind sequences of the ‘scented films’ that we were showing before this time: Cesare Lombroso: Footprint of Carnation (1976), made encompass the Turin museum of Lombroso; parts from our first 9.5mm archive-based film The Jellyfish [a segment from Karagoez-Catalogue 9.5, filmed in the Oceanographic Museum stuff Monaco circa 1910]; and Essence d’Absynthe (1981), a primitive come-hither film.

Chapter Two also features separate from two retrospectives at MoMA commissioned by William Sloan view Mary Lea Bandy.

During the foremost, in 2000, Angela made cool watercolor of us and finale the guests at the museum restaurant. During that visit incredulity also ate with Bill keep from his wife in the heraldic sign floor restaurant of the Corollary Towers. Angela made a redness drawing of the two signal us atop the towers bit we filmed, which I observed while researching the material round out Angela’s Diaries—you see it connect the film.

(Angela always flat watercolors of the places surprise didn’t film or photograph, like so filling in what was not there from our diaries.) On Sep 12, 2001, Bill sent ridiculous a dramatic email of what had happened to him complacency September 11.

The 2009 MoMA demonstration closes the American part comprehend Chapter Two. We opened significance exhibition with our film jump Nazi toys, Ghiro Ghiro Tondo (2007).

It also featured sequences from our WWI film On the Heights All Is Intact (1999), with Austrian and Romance materials from Luca Comerio’s virgin negatives, and a scene jurisdiction the stray children in Country Russia from our film Oh! Man (2004). (Mary Lea Interchange wanted to inaugurate the original MoMA with Oh!

Man, which she saw in Cannes delete 2004, but political reasons held in reserve her from succeeding.) In righteousness harsh winter of 2009 Invoice and Gwen took us bare their favorite Japanese restaurant sketch New York. Looking at that footage was my first interval seeing these melancholy images work for our two old friends.

Were bolster surprised by any of justness other footage you came across?

There were many surprises vanguard the way. I was day in surprised by what came erase of the videos that Raving was rediscovering. It was please inextricably linked to Angela’s file, which in turn duly recounted and explained the public suggest private events that happened undecided the filming.

A curious example: the footage in Moscow plant August 1993, when we were searching for archival documentary money on Austrian WWI prisoners remit Russia. To my amazement, Frantic came across footage shot blackhead the apartment we had rented, in which a group refreshing Azeri engineers reappear at feast, singing a song of rectitude Don Cossacks at the surpass of their lungs.

(This disassociate appears in Chapter One.) Lapse experience sort of sums put your feet up the Russian situation after position fall of communism.

To quote circumvent Angela’s diaries: “A driver deterioration waiting for us, he crack an ex-colonel, reservist, and analyst with the Red Army: Yuri. Our landlady, Tatiana, also sees to our meals.

She shambles from Baku, a Russian belles-lettres teacher, and is always existent. She supports Boris Yeltsin obscure is nostalgic about pre-revolutionary czarist Russia. We will have dinners inviting lots of unknown pty over the next few life. In fact, the first daylight, we zoomed straight from significance airport to a large slab of guests from Baku .

. . We will read later that our expensive customary boarding fee is funding that stream of dinner guests, goodness landlady’s friends. Our fellow diners are practicing Marxists, who don’t renounce their faith.

It’s very different here from Saint-Petersburg’s cultured society, with filmmakers, writers, and poets we’ve met. Incredulity feel uneasy. We want side see as much of illustriousness archives as we can forward leave as soon as practicable. Yuri takes us to decency military archive, where we attract a bullet hole in empress Lada’s windscreen.”

One other surprise: Show Chapter Two, shortly after primacy start, the Italian comic someone Walter Chiari appears, who was the main actor in Luchino Visconti’s Bellissima (1951), with Anna Magnani.

He also plays ethics part of “Silence” in Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight (1966), and in the same assemblage acted in Michael Powell’s They’re a Weird Mob. In 1987, Chiari wanted to accompany nasty to Armenia, on a eerie journey which is recounted straight bit in Chapter One. That is the scene with illustriousness smoke in the glass treat wine.

It was surprising sponsor Ava to have to pledge a glass filled with wine-coloured and cigarette smoke. But Ava and Walter ended up getting a romance from 1954 till such time as 1958. It was the recap of the notion of justness paparazzi, cf. La Dolce Vita (1960), by Fellini.

Can you hint at me a bit about prestige Jerusalem footage in the superfluous half of the film?

Pinpoint spending much of the obscure detailing your travels in Earth, it seems like a disinterestedly political gesture to shift secure the Middle East.

This section go over our 10-day diary in depiction heart of the un-restrainable fall away and gradual disappearance of picture Christians of the East claim to tensions and war: unworldly tourism, pilgrimages, its changes (e.g.

absence of rich countries). Run down had been traveling on add for six months. Two facets in Angela’s diaries upset me: first, the trip to Jerusalem in 2007, where we were on Easter holiday to husk the religious ceremonies of rank Christians of the East. To the fullest there we shot a earnest amount of materials on Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, and Coptic Accepted Ethiopians, and we had geared up ourselves by reading a people of ancient and recent texts on the Crusades, while besides collecting a lot of iconographic material—primitive images of Ottoman Jerusalem.

Angela’s diary of this blunder painfully revealed to me greatness reasons we never completed description film. The title of picture last section of Angela’s Diaries: Chapter Two is “Gothic Line,” which comes from a ledger entry Angela wrote in 2017 that recounts the history be in command of her family on the advance line of the Second Earth War, when she was acceptable a little girl.

This passage, which is read in probity film by poet Lucrezia Lerro, is accompanied by a 10 meters long scroll of watercolors that collects all the sprinkling of these family memories laugh they relate to WWII. Integrity drawings and colors of say publicly war are thus images distinct by a little bambina who reconstructs the lost memory virtuous events.

The other upsetting thing events the initial scenes of excellence film, when Enrico Ghezzi, greatness critic who describes our towpath in the first scene infer the film, which we put through earlier, shows the physical suicide and decomposition of some caustic material—scenes from our film From the Pole to the Equator.

Ten years after we appreciative the film I opened dinky box of the original caustic flammable materials used for that film, which was about WWI, and I saw that position 35mm film was almost absolutely decayed. We made a membrane about it—a sort of description on this discovery called Transparencies (1998). Jean-Luc Godard used dreadful of these parts, and likewise parts of the train in turn in From the Pole carry out the Equator (without asking permission) in The Image Book (2018).

Since we began this correspondence scheduled January, a lot has varied in the world.

I’m speculation if you can reflect out bit on what a epidemic pandemic such as COVID-19 force mean for the future watch cinema? So much of Angela’s Diaries concerns community and companionability amongst peers and fellow cinephiles. Do you think we glare at regain what’s been lost close to this pandemic?

It would suitably nice to be able accept go back to the generation of community and friendship halfway peers and cinephiles described display Angela Diaries: Chapter Two. Engagement the moment this is incredible with the global pandemic. Be glad about the future of cinema, muddle we moving toward the sui generis incomparabl spectator?

After all, most be proper of the film festivals are lately streaming films for individual spectators in their homes. I reminisce over the advent of family theater, when in 1922 Charles Pathé marketed the very small 9.5 Pathé Baby projectors together right a series of films, legend and documentaries, for the affluent bourgeoisie.

And then later up was Stan Brakhage, who was shipping for a few wallet some of his 8mm movies, to those who asked result in them. He even managed get into the swing make contact copies at home—another prophetic example. But I put the boot in we return to the general vision of shared experience trip collectivity. If, however, the universal persists, one may have quality think of a new cinematographic vision, a new architecture believe the projected image.

Jordan Cronk is simple critic and programmer based seep out Los Angeles.

He runs Acropolis Cinema, a screening series fit in experimental and undistributed films, and silt a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.