Two people sitting on a cloud, one of them being Sergei Parajanov and the other a new resident of the skies, talk about Internet access, Google and YouTube. And if technical developments create an abyss between them, because they’ve lived their earthly lives in different periods, then the eternal subject of cinema, which unexpectedly crawls into the conversation, magically unites them. Thus begins the film called Cumulus Clouds by animator Naira (Narara) Muradyan, included in this year’s Apricot Stone competition program.
"I decided to make a film about cinema and freedom, and when you combine these two elements, the first image that emerges is Sergei Parajanov," says Muradyan. In addition to the absolute freedom of Parajanov’s creative thought, which inspired many he came into contact with, the latter is also close to Muradyan's heart and her own creative style. Since childhood, Narara has loved making collages and chose this style for her earlier animations such as Ballet (2012). "Parajanov, of course, had a great influence on me, but the love for collages is a coincidence, as opposed to a specific artistic reference," says Muradyan, "I was very happy to discover that sometimes Parajanov and I thought alike, for example when splitting a face in two to get two separate profiles."
Cumulus Clouds is also a collage, made of scenes from Muradyan's favorite films, including Frunze Dovlatyan's Hello, It’s Me (1965), Federico Fellini's Amarcord (1973) and Casanova (1976), Barry Livingston's Rain Man (1988), Edmond Keosayan's The Elusive Avengers (1966), besides moments out of films by Tarantino, Sergio Leone and Vadim Abdrashitov. "I wanted the animation to be about free love for cinema, to love not only the most important scenes, but also the parts that are close to your heart for various reasons," Muradyan explains. This was the logic behind selecting scenes from films, and sometimes Narara had an inexplicable connection between herself and the directors that taught her to love cinema. "One night I was watching Milos Forman's Hair (1979) and suddenly I wanted to stop and see Abdrashitov's Plumbum (1986). In the morning, I read that Vadim Abdrashitov died that night," Muradyan recalls. Many scenes (for instance, from Coppola's Apocalypse Now and The Godfather), unfortunately, did not make it to the final version of the film due to inconsistencies in rhythm and editing. "But I never regret my work, it always remains, even if it doesn't find a place in the film," the director claims.
Cumulus Clouds is made in color tones so typical of Narara’s work, the existence of which she herself denies. "They say: 'Your colors', but I don't have colors, I just paint what I see." However, other typical elements even the director can’t deny, for example, the theme of flying, which is present in almost all of her works. "It just seems extremely unfair to me that birds can fly, be free in space, and we, as humans, are deprived of that ability," Muradyan complains. "I always give my characters that freedom." Is it a surprise then that even though the next film she is working on takes place underwater, the characters still fly?
Sona Karapoghosyan
"I decided to make a film about cinema and freedom, and when you combine these two elements, the first image that emerges is Sergei Parajanov," says Muradyan. In addition to the absolute freedom of Parajanov’s creative thought, which inspired many he came into contact with, the latter is also close to Muradyan's heart and her own creative style. Since childhood, Narara has loved making collages and chose this style for her earlier animations such as Ballet (2012). "Parajanov, of course, had a great influence on me, but the love for collages is a coincidence, as opposed to a specific artistic reference," says Muradyan, "I was very happy to discover that sometimes Parajanov and I thought alike, for example when splitting a face in two to get two separate profiles."
Cumulus Clouds is also a collage, made of scenes from Muradyan's favorite films, including Frunze Dovlatyan's Hello, It’s Me (1965), Federico Fellini's Amarcord (1973) and Casanova (1976), Barry Livingston's Rain Man (1988), Edmond Keosayan's The Elusive Avengers (1966), besides moments out of films by Tarantino, Sergio Leone and Vadim Abdrashitov. "I wanted the animation to be about free love for cinema, to love not only the most important scenes, but also the parts that are close to your heart for various reasons," Muradyan explains. This was the logic behind selecting scenes from films, and sometimes Narara had an inexplicable connection between herself and the directors that taught her to love cinema. "One night I was watching Milos Forman's Hair (1979) and suddenly I wanted to stop and see Abdrashitov's Plumbum (1986). In the morning, I read that Vadim Abdrashitov died that night," Muradyan recalls. Many scenes (for instance, from Coppola's Apocalypse Now and The Godfather), unfortunately, did not make it to the final version of the film due to inconsistencies in rhythm and editing. "But I never regret my work, it always remains, even if it doesn't find a place in the film," the director claims.
Cumulus Clouds is made in color tones so typical of Narara’s work, the existence of which she herself denies. "They say: 'Your colors', but I don't have colors, I just paint what I see." However, other typical elements even the director can’t deny, for example, the theme of flying, which is present in almost all of her works. "It just seems extremely unfair to me that birds can fly, be free in space, and we, as humans, are deprived of that ability," Muradyan complains. "I always give my characters that freedom." Is it a surprise then that even though the next film she is working on takes place underwater, the characters still fly?
Sona Karapoghosyan