Tigran Edmondovich Keosayan ( hy, Տիգրան էդմոնդի Քեոսայան, russian: Тигран Эдмондович Кеосаян; born January 4, 1966) is a Russian film director, actor and television presenter 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. He is a winner of film festival prizes including

TEFI TEFI (russian: ТЭФИ) is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as tele ...

Kinotavr Kinotavr (russian: Кинотавр), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival is an open film festival held in the resort city of Sochi, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasio ...

and 2001.Тигран Кеосаян. Биография и фильмография
// russia.tv Described as a pro-Kremlin television presenter, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

imposed sanctions on Keosayan as a result of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. On 24 June 2022,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

reported that Keosayan was put in the same list with terrorists who are denied entry. On 10 October,

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 ''Ox ...

n authorities declarated Keosayan and his wife

Margarita Simonyan Margarita Simonovna Simonyan (russian: link=no, Маргарита Симоновна Симоньян; born 6 April 1980) is a Russian journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of the Russian state-controlled media organisations RT (formerly R ...

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'' as a “agents from different countries with Armenian surnames” who allow themselves a disrespectful attitude towards Armenia.

Biography

Keosayan is the son of Armenian-Russian film director and composer

Edmond Keosayan Edmond Gareginovich Keosayan ( hy, Էդմոնդ Քյոսայան; russian: Эдмонд Гарегинович Кеосаян; 9 October 1936 – 21 April 1994) was an Armenian Soviet film director and musician. * 1952-54 - worked in Yerevan watc ...

and actress Laura Gevorkyan. He studied at the all-Union (now – all-Russian) state Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). Keosayan is the director of Russian films including ''Katyka and Shiz'' (1992), ''Poor Sasha'' (1997), ''Lily of the Valley Silvery'' (2005), ''Hare Over the Abyss'' (2006), The Twelve Chairs

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

(2003), a large number of clips for

Mikhail Shufutinsky Mikhail Zakharovich Shufutinsky (russian: Михаи́л Заха́рович Шуфути́нский; born 13 April 1948) is a Russian pop singer. He was once a citizen of the United States from 1990 to 2003, but now lives in Russia. He is curr ...

Igor Sarukhanov Igor Armenovich Sarukhanov (russian: Игорь Арменович Саруханов, born on April 6, 1956, Samarkand) is a Russian pop musician, composer and artist of Armenian descent, as well as Merited Artist of the Russian Federation, Merito ...

Irina Allegrova Irina Aleksandrovna Allegrova (russian: link=no, Ирина Александровна Аллегрова; born 20 January 1952) is a Russian singer. She is a People's Artist of Russia (2010).

. He is co-operated with

Fyodor Bondarchuk Fyodor Sergeyevich Bondarchuk (russian: link=no, Фёдор Сергеевич Бондарчук ; born 9 May 1967) is a Russian film director, actor, TV and film producer, clipmaker, TV host, founder of production company Art Pictures Studio. ...

Alexander Zbruev Aleksandr Viktorovich Zbruyev (russian: Александр Викторович Збруев; born 31 March 1938, in Moscow, Soviet Union) is Soviet and Russian theatrical and cinema actor. Selected filmography * ''My Younger Brother'' (1962) as ...

and others. Keosayan is an anchorman of the daily (from Monday to Thursday) analytical talk show ''With Tigran Keosayan'' on the Russian private TV channel

REN-TV REN TV (russian: РЕН ТВ) is a Russian free-to-air television network, was founded on 1 January 1997 by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television ...

Personal life

Keosayan is married to

. On 27 April 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan announced its intention to introduce an absolute travel ban on entry into the country after his statements about the

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

of the Kazakh government in regards to the

. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, regarding news that Kazakhstan would not hold a

Victory Day parade ukr, Парад Перемоги be, Парад Перамогі , nickname = Victory Parades , observedby = Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, some former Soviet countries , duration = 1 day , frequency = annual , scheduling = same d ...

on 9 May, Keosayan asked "Kazakhs, brothers. What is with the non-gratitude?" and said "Look at Ukraine carefully, think seriously". On 24 June 2022,

reported that Keosayan was put in the same list with terrorists who are denied entry.

Sanctions

After the

Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's List of largest refugee crises, largest refugee cris ...

, Keosayan was one of the individuals sanctioned by the

. The reasons given for the sanctions were that Keosayan has spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda, and used his state-funded TV show to claim that the Ukrainian government was not lawful and repeatedly state that Crimea is part of Russia and that Donbass is not part of Ukraine. He has publicly accused Ukraine of escalating the conflict. He has consistently used his show to portray Ukraine as a weak and corrupt country that is being kept alive solely thanks to Western aid. Keosayan took part in the "Russian Donbass Basin" forum organized by the authorities of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic in Donetsk with the aim of spreading the "Russian Donbass Basin" doctrine. Keosayan was included in the list of Russians under personal sanctions by the

in March.

Controversy

Blackface segment about Barack Obama

On 30 November 2020, Keosayan's TV show "International Sawmill", for which Keosayan and his wife

are co-writers, aired a segment featuring Keosayan, and an actress in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

posing as former United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. In the segment, Keosayan, referring to Obama's book ''

A Promised Land ''A Promised Land'' is a memoir by Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Published on November 17, 2020, it is the first of a planned two-volume series. Remaining focused on his political career, the preside ...

'', asks the actress: "Do you consider this book your achievement?", to which the actress in blackface replies: "Of course." Keosayan then asks: "Because none of your relatives have written books?", after which the actress answers: "Because none of my relatives that came before me could write." Keosayan then states "you should have a rap musician, not the president". In the segment, the actress wears a bandana and gold chains and behaves in a way regarded as stereotypical to

rappers Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

. The segment was widely deemed as being racist.

Investigation

On March 10, 2020, an Anti-Corruption Foundation investigation revealed embezzlement of the state budget of Russia and various corruption schemes associated with the television program "The International Sawmill" (ru. "Международная пилорама" / "Mezhdunarodnaya pilorama"), broadcast on prime-time on the Russian federal channel

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfCZm_rdfZM In several of the program’s episodes, Keosayan insults and slanders leaders of various countries such as France, the United States, and Turkey.

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

is frequently incorrectly described, using vulgarities, as a homosexual. And obeying the "personality cult of Putin," the president of Russia is exalted. Active censorship of this incident was undertaken in the Russian-language Wikipedia
Detailed description on "OneLittleMouse" talk page (on russian)

Filmography

As a film director

# ''Katyka and Shiz'' (1992) # ''Cases Funny, Family Matters'' (1996, TV Series) # ''

Poor Sasha ''Poor Sasha'' (russian: Бедная Саша, Bednaya Sasha) is a 1997 Russian adventure film directed by Tigran Keosayan. Plot A touching New Year's fairy tale about those who, despite money and status, lack love and warmth. Moscow, late 199 ...

'' (1997) # ''The Death Directory'' (1999, TV series) # '' Silver Lily of the Valley'' (2000) # ''

The President and His Granddaughter The President and His Granddaughter (russian: Президент и его внучка, Prezident i ego vnuchka) is a 2000 Russian comedy film directed by Tigran Keosayan. Participant of the main competition of the XII ORKF Kinotavr (Special Priz ...

'' (2000) # ''Men's Work'' (2001, also TV series: 2005) # ''Hare Over the Abyss'' (2006) # '' Rabbit Over the Void'' (2006) #''Mirage'' (2008) # ''Yalta-45'' (2011, mini-series) # ''Three Comrades'' (2012, mini-series) # ''Sea. Mountains. Exclay'' (2014, TV series) # ''Actress'' (2017, TV series) # ''

The Crimean Bridge. Made with Love! ''The Crimean Bridge: Made with Love!'' (russian: Крымский мост. Сделано с любовью!, Krymsky most. Sdelano s lyubovyu!) is a 2018 Russian state-funded film directed by Tigran Keosayan. Plot The Crimean Bridge is bein ...

'' (2018)

As an actor

# ''Joker'' (1991) # ''Silver Lily of the Valley'' (2000) # '' The Heat'' (2006)

As a writer

# ''Cases funny, family matters'' (1996, TV Series) # ''Silver Lily of the Valley'' (TV series, 2005).

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keosayan, Tigran Living people 1966 births Russian propagandists Russian people of Armenian descent Russian film directors Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Academicians of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences "Nika" REN TV Soviet male actors Male actors from Moscow Mass media people from Moscow Russian television presenters Russian screenwriters Russian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia