Don Askarian ( hy, Դոն Ասկարյան; born Makedon Hovsepi Askarian ( hy, Մակեդոն Հովսեփի Ասկարյան) on 10 July 1949 in Stepanakert,

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

– died 6 October 2018 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) was an international film director, producer,

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

and screenwriter of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

origin.

Biography

Don Askarian was born in Stepanakert in the

(current-day ''de facto''

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh controls a part of the former ...

, ''de jure''

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

). In 1967 he moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and studied history and art, and worked as an assistant director and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

for a year after his graduation. Askarian was imprisoned during 1975–1977, and in 1978 he emigrated from the Soviet Union to

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. He lived and worked in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and in

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, where he founded his own film companies. He was awarded numerous prizes at several international film festivals. His films were co-produced and broadcast by ARD, WDR,

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

, as well as Belgian, Greek, Swiss, Slovakian, Armenian TV Channels. In 1996, Askarian published a book called ''The Dangerous Light''. In 2002 he was honored with a Harvard Film Archive retrospective and two years later, in 2004, received the Golden Camera Award for Life Achievement at Int. ART Film Festival, Slovakia. Askarian's brother is sculptor and painter Robert Askarian.

Filmography

Sources: * 1984: ''The Bear'' * 1988: ''Nagorno Karabakh: Armenian History Volumes IV and V'' (Լեռնային Ղարաբաղ) * 1988: ''Komitas'' (Կոմիտաս) * 1992: ''Avetik'' (Ավետիք) * 1998: ''Paradjanov'' (Փարաջանով) * 2000: ''Musicians'' (Երաժիշտները) * 2001: ''On the Old Roman Road'' ( Հին հռոմեական ճանապարհին) * 2007: ''Ararat: 14 Views'' (Արարատ. 14 տեսանկյուն) * 2008: ''Father'' (Հայրիկ)

References

The Harvard Film Archiv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Askarian, Don 1949 births 2018 deaths Armenian film critics People from Stepanakert Soviet prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union Soviet emigrants to Germany