Ukraine exonerates Sergei Parajanov

ArmInfo.The National Commission for Rehabilitation at the request of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINM) rehabilitated the Ukrainian film director of Armenian origin Sergei Parajanov, UINM Head Anton  Drobovych said.

In 1973, the Soviet authorities accused Parajanov of "Ukrainian  nationalism and homosexuality" and sentenced him to five years of  strict regime camps.

"Half a century has passed since his trial, but now, even in the  legal sense, justice is triumphant. It is a pleasure to write about  it on the centenary of the birth of the key author of Ukrainian  poetic cinema," said Drobovych.

At its last meeting in December 2023, the National Commission for  Rehabilitation rehabilitated the prominent Armenian film director who  was born in Tbilisi and was in a Russian prison for Ukrainian  nationalism.

According to Drobovych, the Office of the President and Ukrainian  human rights defenders, in particular the Ukrainian Helsinki Human  Rights Union, supported the consideration of the case. He also  thanked his colleagues from the National Commission for  Rehabilitation and the State Archive of Kyiv Oblast, who provided  scanned copies of the archived criminal case for consideration.

"Thanks to them, historical truth overcomes oblivion and repression,  and there is also hope that other complex and high-profile cases of  Ukrainian dissidents, who were tried in the USSR under both political  and fabricated general criminal articles, will be considered in the  future," added the head of the institute.

Sergei Parajanov is a Ukrainian-Armenian director, screenwriter,  artist. He was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and came to Ukraine by  distribution after studying at a university.

On September 4, 1964, he presented the film "Shadows of Forgotten  Ancestors", which he shot based on the work of Mykhailo  Kotsiubynskyi. This film brought Parajanov international recognition.  In particular, 39 international awards, 28 prizes at various film  festivals (including 24 Grand Prix).

During the premiere of the film, a protest took place in the Kyiv  cinema "Ukraine". The creative intelligentsia publicly condemned the  political repressions taking place in Ukraine. Having been persecuted  and trying to avoid arrest, Parajanov was forced to leave for  Armenia.

In 1973, he returned to Ukraine, when the USSR authorities arrested  and sentenced Parajanov to five years in prison for homosexuality,  although the indictment included articles "for speculation" and "for  Ukrainian nationalism." He served his sentence in the Lukyanivska  prison, a colony in Perevalsk.

Due to ideological censorship, his films "Intermezzo" (also based on  the work of Kotsiubynskyi), "Kyiv Frescoes", "Icarus", "The  Confession" were not released.