Vigen Chaldranyan

Vigen Chaldranyan (born 1955)  
Film director, scriptwriter, producer and actor Vigen Chaldranyan entered Yerevan Institute of Art and Theatre in 1975, and after graduating from the Department of Art of Acting, studied Theatre Directing at the same Institute. Later he studied in the Department of Film Directing at Moscow All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) where in 1978, he shot his first short film Gold Laughs. Vigen Chaldranyan has created nineteen films. In 2001, the President of the Republic of Armenia awarded him the Movses Khorenatsi Medal. In 2006, Chaldranyan was awarded RA Union of Cinematographers’ Anahit Award for his contributions to Armenian cinematography. In 2007, he was given the title of the Honorary Worker of Art of the Republic of Armenia. In 2008, Chaldranyan was elected as a Full member, academician of the International Academy of Sciences of Nature and Society. In the same year the Western European Academy of Sciences and Arts awarded him Professor Sofi Takhalova’s Golden Star Award (Netherlands). The European Academy of Natural Sciences awarded him Gold Cross of Ludwig II of Bavaria (Germany, 2009). In 2010, the US branch of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences awarded him the title of academician along with the Crown and Eagle Medal for his contribution to filmmaking. In 2010, the Fridtjof Nansen Fund in Armenia awarded him the Fridtjof Nansen Golden Medal. Chaldranyan has also received prizes and diplomas at various IFFs.

 Filmography (selected)  
April (1985), A Voice in the Wilderness… (1991), My Farewell to Be… (1993), Armenians (1994), …I Returned Home (1993), Chrism (1996), Lord, Have Mercy (1997), Symphony of Silence (2001), The Priestess (2007), Tours in Japan (2009), Maestro (2010), The Voice of Silence (2013), Alter Ego (2016).