Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich: biography, personal life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich is a Russian artist who began his career in the Soviet Union. He holds the position of Director of the cinema concern "Mosfilm".

Origin

Karen Shakhnazarov, whose nationality is obvious, comes from an ancient Armenian family. His great-grandmother (on his father's side) was the sister of General Daniel Bek-Pirumyan, who served under the tsar in Armenia. He became famous in the battle of Sardarapad, defeating the Turkish army. After the death of the Russian Empire, he was shot.

The director's mother was Russian, despite this mixing of blood, Karen Shakhnazarov himself defines his nationality as Armenian and is immensely proud of it.

Biography

Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich was born in the city of Krasnodar in July 1952. His father, Georgy Khosroevich, was a lawyer and politician, his mother, Anna Grigorievna, was engaged in raising her son. Karen Georgievich recalls that their house was always open to guests, and although their parents were not related to theatrical circles, there were many artists among their friends.

Since childhood, Shakhnazarov loved to read and play sports (swimming, football). He was also not indifferent to painting and even wanted to enter the relevant faculty, but after graduating from school he decided to study directing at VGIK.

Karen Shakhnazarov graduated from the university in 1975. His first official cinematic activity was the work of an assistant director Igor Talankin in the film "Choice of Target". Shakhnazarov gained recognition from the audience in 1983, when the musical film "We are from Jazz", based on his script, was released. The painting received several prestigious awards.

In 1998, Karen Shakhnazarov became the general director of Mosfilm. He still directs, often appears on television, and is engaged in literary work.

Private life

Karen Shakhnazarov, whose personal life has become the talk of the town, claims that he always put work first. Perhaps that is why now he cannot be called a family man, although he was married three times in his life.

Shakhnazarov's first marriage broke up rather quickly (lasted about a year), and little is known about his wife Elena. She is not a public person. Graduated from the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. It is noteworthy that the wedding with Elena was the only one in the life of the director, held in accordance with the traditions: the white dress of the bride, the suit of the groom, many guests. Everyone else passed without much ceremony.

The second wife of Karen Shakhnazarov Alena left the director and, taking her daughterAnna, emigrated to the United States. There were rumors that Elena simply could not stand her husband's constant betrayals and fled Russia for a better life. Now their common daughter Anna is almost thirty years old, she met her father only after twenty years of separation. Now they rarely talk. Karen Georgievich notes that she has become an absolute American, although she speaks a little Russian.

About his third wife - Daria Mayorova - Shakhnazarov says that it was love at first sight. The director shot his beloved in his film, and later they got married. From this marriage, two sons were born, of whom Karen Shakhnazarov is very proud. The family was replenished in 1993 with their son Ivan, three years later Vasily was born. However, the director's third marriage also fell apart.

Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich and cinematography

Karen Shakhnazarov had a clear goal. He knew what he wanted to achieve in cinema. Therefore, he quickly grew from a simple assistant to a second director. He worked a lot with George Danelia. And already in 1979 he released his first film "The Good Men".

Four years later, the film "We are from Jazz" was released, which loudly declared Shakhnazarov the director and screenwriter. This picture was recognized as the best among musical films for 1983.

Karen Shakhnazarov, whose films can be called universal, has always said that he works only for the viewer. Perhaps that is why all his paintings became popular in their time and were repeatedly noted at international festivals.

Shakhnazarov isn't afraid to try new things or speak frankly about his life in his own work. So he was one of the first to invite foreign actors to his cinema (Malcolm McDowell in The Kingslayer, Marcello Mastroianni was supposed to play a role in Ward No. 6), shot the film American Daughter with autobiographical inserts.

One of the director's recent works is the film "White Tiger". This is his debut in military cinema and the largest film in his work. Shakhnazarov decided to shoot this picture after reading Ilya Boyashov's story "Tankman", in which he saw a different view of military events. The film's budget was eleven million dollars. The film was so successful that it was nominated for an Oscar and won a prize at the Pyongyang Film Festival, as well as at several other international and national festivals.

Besides his directing and screenwriting activities, Karen Shakhnazarov is actively involved in producing films. The films "Who, if not us", "Star", "We are from Jazz-2" came out with his support.

Literary activity

Besides his main cinematographic activity Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich is engaged in writing. Love for literature was instilled in him by his father at an early age. As the director himself notes, his father was a very erudite and well-read person, so the craving for books simply could not help but arise.

Shakhnazarov created many scripts for his films, a distinctive featurewhich is the presence of fantastic notes. For example, in the scripts for the films "The Kingslayer", "Dreams". For the screenplay "City Zero" he received the award of the Science Fiction Society "Eurocon".

Also, Shakhnazarov wrote the story "Courier", which received the Boris Polevoy literary prize.

Community activities

Karen Shakhnazarov is very much in favor of the development of the technical process in film production, arguing that without good support, excellent film works will not work. All his activities as director of Mosfilm are aimed at the development and implementation of innovative technologies.

Another fundamental problem the director considers is the inaccessibility of film education.

Shakhnazarov expresses his political views quite clearly. He supported the candidacy of V. V. Putin before the 2012 elections, and also became one of those who signed a petition in support of government actions in Ukraine and Crimea.

Awards

For his work, Karen Shakhnazarov was repeatedly awarded the State Prize of Russia (in the field of cinematography in 2002, in the field of literature and art in 2012).

Shakhnazarov is the owner of the Order of Honor, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Armenian Order of Honor. He is a People's Artist of the Russian Federation, and his films have repeatedly won prestigious film awards ("Golden Eagle", "Nika", "Golden Pegasus").

Interesting facts

1. The director's hobbies include swimming and driving.
2. The eldest son Ivan is studying to be a film director. His short film participated in the competition at the Kinotavr. He also acts in films as an actor.
3. Shakhnazarov claims that he regrets one thing in life: at the age of seventeen he broke up with his first girlfriend.
4. If I had to start life from the beginning, then Karen Georgievich would enter a military school and become a pilot.