Quick Facts
Biography
Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov, PAR (Russian: Каре́н Гео́ргиевич Шахназа́ров; born 8 July 1952) is a Soviet and Russian-Armenian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He became the Director General of the Mosfilm studios in 1998.
Shakhnazarov is the son of a Georgy Shakhnazarov, a politician of Armenian descent, and a Russian housewife Anna Grigorievna Shakhnazarova.
His 1987 film Courier was entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Special Prize. In 2002 he was a member of the jury at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival. Since 2005 he has been a member of the Public Chamber of Russia.
His 2012 film White Tiger was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.
In March 2014 he signed a letter in support of the position of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin on the situation in Ukraine and Crimea. For this he was banned from entering Ukraine.
Selected filmography
| Year | English title | Original title |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | We Are from Jazz | Мы из джаза |
| 1985 | Winter Evening in Gagra | Зимний вечер в Гаграх |
| 1987 | The Messenger Boy | Курьер |
| 1988 | Zero City | Город Зеро |
| 1991 | The Assassin of the Tsar | Цареубийца |
| 1993 | Dreams | Сны |
| 1995 | American Daughter | Американская дочка |
| 1998 | Day of the Full Moon | День полнолуния |
| 2001 | Poisons or the World History of Poisoning | Яды, или Всемирная история отравлений |
| 2004 | The Rider Named Death | Всадник по имени смерть |
| 2008 | The Vanished Empire | Исчезнувшая империя |
| 2009 | Ward Number 6 | Палата № 6 |
| 2012 | White Tiger | Белый тигр |
| 2016 | Anna Karenina | Анна Каренина |
Genealogy
Karen Shakhnazarov is one of several living descendants of the famous Melik-Shahnazarian princely family from Nagorno-Karabakh. The Melik-Shahnazarians ruled Nagorno-Karabakh's province of Varanda in medieval and modern times.