Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky honored 11 “outstanding individuals” with the National Legend of Ukraine state award, the presidential office said on Aug. 22.
People’s Artist of Ukraine and the People’s Artist of Armenia, film director Sergey Parajanov was awarded the prize posthumously. This year marks the director’s 100th birth anniversary.
The National Legend of Ukraine Award was introduced in 2021. The president grants it to Ukrainians and foreigners who have made a contribution to the establishment of independent Ukraine and the country’s defense.
“This is respect. This is honor. This is dignity. It is how the state of Ukraine says thank you to its people, its heroes, its legends. Those among us and those we must appreciate. Those who, unfortunately, are no longer with us. We must remember them all – legends who inspire us, legends applauded by the world. And I would like us all to applaud our Ukrainian legends now,” said Volodymyr Zelensky.
One of the greatest masters of cinema, Sergei Parajanov created two masterpieces in a row, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) and The Color of Pomegranates (1969), had such legendary fans as Fellini, Godard, and Tarkovsky, and was imprisoned three times. His artworks, and particularly his Mona Lisa collages, put him in the company of Picasso and Warhol.
Major directors from Hollywood to Iran, fashion designers from New York to Brazil, Pulitzer Prize winning scientists and superstar musicians like Madonna and Lady Gaga have all created work influenced and inspired by this genius.
