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Vagrich and the Black Square
The film is a collage, an essay and a documentary in tribute to an avant-garde artist and a free thinking man – Vagrich Bakhchanyan. Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, Bakhchanyan was creating various caricatures and sketches in the Soviet Union before immigrating to the USA in the 1970’s. Viewers are immersed in the absurd and bitterly funny universe of the artist, as scholars and friends reflect on his life, enigma and the mystique of his connection with Kazimir Malevich’s famous “Black Square” – an inception point of Russian avant–garde. The film is a hybrid mixing documentary footage and photos with live action and animation.
Andrei Zagdansky
Born in 1956, Zagdansky is an independent documentary filmmaker and producer, originally from Ukraine. Upon graduating Kiev State Institute of Theatrical Arts in 1979, he worked as a film director for Kievnauchfilm studio (1981-1988) and Thursday film studio (1988-1992). In 1991, he was invited to the United States by the Film Society of Lincoln Center to present his Freudian film Interpretation of Dreams at the New Directors/New Films Festival at the Museum of Modern Art. After immigrating to the USA in 1992, he worked as a freelance producer for the now defunct Russian-American Broadcasting Company (1992-1999). He has also taught several film classes at New School University (New York).
Filmography
Registration, 1988
Interpretation of Dreams, 1990
Two, 1992
Six Days, 2001
Vasya, 2002
Konstantin and Mouse, 2006
Orange Winter, 2007
My Father Evgeni, 2010
Trottoirs de Paris, 2013
Vagrich and the Black Square, 2014
Garik, 2017
Michail and Daniel, 2018
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Film Details:
USA/Ukraine, 2014, 77’
in Russian w/ Arm./Eng. subtitles
Director and Writer: Andrei Zagdansky
Producers: Andrei Zagdansky, Gennady Kofman, Olga Beskhmelnitskaya, Alexei Zagdansky
Cinematographers: Vladimir Guyevsky, Andrei Zagdansky
Animators: Alex Budovsky, Victor Goretsky, Stan Leshchenko, Alexei Zagdansky
Editor: Andrei Zagdansky
Sound: Borys Peter
Production Company: AZ Films, Magika Film