[Creation] Ciné-concert ‘Sayat Nova’ (Sergueï Paradjanov) by Dourlen/Loiseau/Seilman

Presentation of the ciné-concert:

For this new creation, the musicians Jonathan Seilman, Alice Dourlen, and Paul Loiseau seize the Soviet surrealist film, ‘Sayat Nova’ (meaning ‘the color of pomegranates’ in French, 1968) by Sergueï Paradjanov.

A wave of repression targeted cultural and artistic circles in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. In this context, the director Sergueï Paradjanov received the official order in 1966 from the Armenfilm Studios of Yerevan to produce a filmed biography of the Armenian poet of the 18th century, Sayat Nova (1712 – 1795).

The formal audacity of the filmmaker, his freedom of tone worried the authorities. Distributed for the first time in 1969, the film was then censored.

Almost silent, this cinematographic work, a series of several paintings, lends itself perfectly to the game of film-concert and musical reinterpretation. (“Painting is silent, my films are silent too”, says Paradjanov). To build this visual and sound project, the Nantes-based sound designer Jonathan Seilman for theater and dance (Olivia Grandville, Loïc Touzé, Ambra Senatore), surrounds himself with the visual artist Alice Dourlen (also known for her sound experimentations under the name Chicaloyoh) and the musician of the trio La Terre Tremble !!!, Paul Loiseau.

The scenography will be signed by Yves Godin, lighting designer for Gisèle Vienne, Pascal Rambert, Olivia Grandville.

Duration : 90 min. +/-

DISTRIBUTION

• Conception: Jonathan Seilman

• Music composed and performed by:

Alice Dourlen : voice, duduk, sound objects, sampling
Paul Loiseau : percussions, analog synthesizer (SH101)
Jonathan Seilman: analog synthesizer (Juno 60), modular synthesizer (Buchla music easel), whalophone, mandolin, sampling

• Technical :

Scenography design : Yves Godin & Jonathan Seilman
Lighting design: Yves Godin
Lighting and video control / General control : Marie Giraudet
Sound engineer : Olivier Ménard
Costumes : Amélie Grosselin (graphic design), Coline Hateau (dressmaking) & Charline Bernard (crown making)
Linguistic collaboration : Séta Bibérian & Sossé Manakian

Co-production: Clair Obscur, le lieu unique, l’Ouvre Boîte, Murailles Music