Maria Sergeevna Saakyan (russian: Мария Сергеевна Саакян, hy, Մարիա Սերգեյի Սահակյան, 24 July 1980 – 28 January 2018) was a Russian film director, screenwriter, animator and editor. She is known for her work in movies like Farewell,

Mayak The Mayak Production Association (russian: Производственное объединение «Маяк», , from 'lighthouse') is one of the biggest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation, housing a reprocessing plant. The closest ...

, Honey Money among others.

Biography

Saakyan was born in 1980 in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. She is the granddaughter of the Armenian poet

Seda Vermisheva Seda Vermisheva ( hy, Սեդա Վերմիշևա; russian: Сэда Константиновна Вермишева, 9 October 1932 – 18 February 2020) was an Armenian-Russian poet, economist and public activist. Biography From her father's s ...

. In 1993, she 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 million ...

with her family. In 1996, she entered the

Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...

, faculty of directing film and television, the workshop of Vladimir Kobrin. Saakyan filmed the short film "Farewell", a thesis at the end of VGIK in 2003. The film is shown in the program at the International Film Festival in Oberhausen, the International Film Festival "Premier Plans Angers" in France, the official program of the

Rotterdam Film Festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

in the Netherlands, at the Telluride Film Festival and others. She was awarded the Grand Prix of the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, a special mention of the International Film Festival in the city of

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

, received a prize from the Kodak company at the VGIK festival and a diploma of the St. Anna Festival.

Personal life and death

Saakyan was the mother of five children, her husband was Jeff Kalousdian, an American of Armenian descent. She died of cancer on 28 January 2018.

Filmography

;Director *2004 - Farewell (short film) *2006 - "The Lighthouse" -

Mayak (film) ''Mayak'' (russian: Маяк, meaning ''The Lighthouse'') is a 2006 Russian film directed by Mariya Saakyan. Young director Mariya Saakyan made the picture about the war in the Caucasus, but without the war. Synopsis The film is about the war ...

*2012 - "It's Not Me" *2012 - "Entropy" *2013 - "Garlic, onions and peppers" ;Screenwriter *2004 - Farewell *2012 - “It's Not Me” ;Editor *2004 - Farewell *2012 - “It's Not Me” *2012 - Entropy *2015 - "Honey Money"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saakyan, Mariya 1980 births 2018 deaths Film people from Yerevan Russian people of Armenian descent Russian women film directors Russian screenwriters Deaths from cancer in Russia