Ashik Kerib 

Dir. Sergei Parajanov and Dodo Abashidze. 1988, 73 mins. Soviet Union. In Georgian, Russian, and Azerbaijani with English subtitles. Restored DCP. Dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky (whose 1962 Ivan’s Childhood inspired him to renounce socialist realism), Parajanov’s hypnotic and wondrous Ashik Kerib is his last completed film. Based on a short story by the poet Mikhail Lermontov (which Parajanov first heard at the age seven when bedridden with angina), it is a lushly choreographed and illusory portrayal of an Azeri-Turkish folk tale in which a meandering minstrel falls madly love with a rich merchant’s daughter but is spurned by her wealthy and erratic father and subsequently traverses the Caucasus for a thousand and one nights to earn riches and win her hand. Azeri musician Dzhavanshir Kuliyev’s ethnographic score (interwoven with Schubert, Gluck, motifs from the Passion, and Christian organ music) makes the film a transcendent, enchanting homage to the region. 

 
Preceded by 
Hakob Hovnatanyan 
Dir. Sergei Parajanov. 1967, 10 mins. Soviet Union. In Armenian and French with English subtitles. Restored 4K DCP. Parajanov explores the art of Armenian portraitist Hakob Hovnatanyan (1806–1881), a product of Tbilisi’s Armenian community who eventually moved to Iran due to his interest in Persian art. Through rhythmic montage, close-up, fragmentation, and Stepan Shakaryan’s caressing score, Parajanov revives a vanished 19th-century culture. 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. 

Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission.