Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich: biography, private life

Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich is a Russian artist who started his career in the Soviet Union. He holds the post of director of the cinematographic concern "Mosfilm".

Origin

Karen Shakhnazarov, whose nationality is obvious, comes from an ancient Armenian family. His great-grandmother (on the line of his father) was the sister of General Daniel Beck-Pirumyan, who served under the tsar in Armenia. He became famous in the battle of Sardarapad, having defeated the Turkish army. After the death of the Russian Empire, he was shot.

The mother of the director was Russian, despite this mixture of blood, Karen Shakhnazarov himself defines his nationality as Armenian and immensely proud of it.

Biography

Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich was born in Krasnodar in July 1952. His father Georgy Khosroevich was a lawyer and politician, his mother - Anna Grigoryevna - was engaged in the upbringing of her son. Karen Georgievich recalls that their house has always been open to guests, and although the parents had no relation to the theatrical circles, there were many artists among friends.

Since childhood, Shakhnazarov liked to read and play sports (swimming, football). He was also indifferent to painting and even wanted to enter the corresponding faculty, but after graduation decided to study directing in VGIK.

Karen Shakhnazarov graduated from the university in 1975. His first official cinematographic activity was the work of assistant director Igor Talankin in the film "Choice of goals." Recognition of spectators Shakhnazarov found in 1983, when the screen came a musical film "We are from jazz", shot according to his script. The picture received several prestigious awards.

In 1998 Karen Shakhnazarov became the general director of Mosfilm. He still conducts directorial activity, often appears on television, engaged in literary work.

Personal life

Karen Shakhnazarov, whose personal life became the talk of the town, claims that he always put the work in first place. Perhaps that's why now he can not be called a family man, although he was married three times in his life.

The first marriage of Shakhnazarov quickly disintegrated (lasted about a year), and little is known about his wife Elena. She is not a public person. Graduated from the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. It is noteworthy that the wedding with Elena was the only one in the life of the director, held in accordance with the traditions: the white dress of the bride, the suit of the groom, many guests. All the rest passed without lavish ceremonies.

The second wife of Karen Shakhnazarov, Alena, left the director and, having taken her daughter Anna, emigrated to the United States. There were rumors that Elena just could not stand the constant adultery of her husband and fled Russia to a better life. Now their common daughter Anna is almost thirty years old, she met her father only after twenty years of separation. Now they occasionally communicate. Karen Georgievich notes that she became an absolute American, although she speaks Russian a little.

About his third spouse - Darya Mayorov - Shakhnazarov said that it was love at first sight. The director took off his lover in his film, and later they got married. From this marriage two sons were born, which Shakhnazarov Karen is very proud of. The family was replenished in 1993 by his son Ivan, three years later Vasily appeared. However, the director's third marriage also disintegrated.

Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich and cinema

Karen Shakhnazarov had a clear goal. He knew what he wanted to achieve in the cinema. So he quickly grew from a simple assistant to a second director. He worked a lot for George Danelia. And in 1979 he released his first film "Dobriaki".

Four years later, the film "We are from Jazz" came out on the screens, which loudly announced Shakhnazarov, the director and screenwriter. This picture was recognized as the best among musical films in 1983.

Karen Shakhnazarov, whose films can be called universal, always said that it works only for the viewer. Perhaps that is why all of his pictures became popular at the time and were often celebrated at international festivals.

Shakhnazarov is not afraid to try something new or speak frankly about his life in his own works. So he was one of the first to invite foreign actors to his cinema (Malcolm McDowell in "Tsarubiytse", Marcello Mastroianni was supposed to perform the role in "Chamber No. 6"), made the film "American daughter" with autobiographical inserts.

One of the recent works of the director is the film White Tiger. This is his debut in military cinematography and the most ambitious film in his work. Shakhnazarov decided to remove this picture after reading the story of Ilya Boyashov's The Tankist, in which he saw a different view of military events. The budget of the film was eleven million dollars. The film was so successful that she was nominated for an Oscar, she won a prize at the Pyongyang Film Festival, and also at several international and national festivals.

In addition to his directorial and script work, Karen Shakhnazarov is actively involved in the production of motion pictures. Films "Who, if not we," "Star", "We are from jazz-2" came out with his support.

Literary Activity

In addition to his main cinematographic activity, Shakhnazarov Karen Georgievich is engaged in writing. Love for literature was instilled in him by his father in his earliest childhood. As the director himself notes, the father was very erudite and well-read person, so the craving for books simply could not arise.

Shakhnazarov created many scenarios for his films, the hallmark of which is the presence of fantastic notes. For example, in scenarios for the pictures "Tsarubiytsa", "Dreams". For the screenplay "City of Zero" he received the prize of the Science Fiction Society "Eurocon".

Shakhnazarov also wrote the novel "Courier", which received a literary award from Boris Polevoy.

Social activity

Karen Shakhnazarov is very much in favor of developing the technical process in the film industry, arguing that without good support, there will be no fine film works. All of his activities as director of Mosfilm are aimed at developing and implementing innovative technologies.

Another principal problem is the director considers the inaccessibility of cinematographic education.

Shakhnazarov expresses his political views quite clearly. He supported the candidacy of V.V. Putin before the elections of 2012, and also became one of those who signed a petition in support of the government's actions in Ukraine and in the Crimea.

Awards

For his work, Karen Shakhnazarov was repeatedly awarded the State Prize of Russia (in the field of film art in 2002, in the field of literature and art in 2012).

Shakhnazarov - the owner of the Order of Honor, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Armenian Order of Honor. He is a People's Artist of the Russian Federation, and his films were not just winners of prestigious film awards (Golden Eagle, Nika, Golden Pegasus).

Interesting Facts

1. Among the director's hobbies are swimming and driving.
2. The eldest son Ivan is studying for a film director. His short film participated in the competition at Kinotavr. He also acts as an actor in the cinema.
3. Shakhnazarov claims that he regrets about one thing: at seventeen, he broke up with his first girlfriend.
4. If you had to start life from the beginning, then Karen Georgievich would enter a military school and become a pilot.