Legende

"I will take revenge on the world with love." Sergey Paradjanov

"LEGENDE" tells the story of the world of Sergey Paradjanov, a film director who is as famous as he is virtually unknown in the West. His works, which have also recently inspired the international star Lady Gaga, are of fascinating diversity and surreal fantasy. However, "LEGENDE" is not a biopic of an important artist. With poetry and humor, Serebrennikov turns Paradjanov into the allegorical figure of an artist, a poet, a wanderer, a fighter, a rebel. The result is a kaleidoscope of a life between passion, eccentricity, beauty and oppression. In ten legends, an infinite metaverse of cultures emerges, in which every single person is allowed to exist in their uniqueness.

Sergey Paradjanov would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. Born in Tbilisi in 1924, he grew up in the Soviet Union and rebelled against the nomenklatura and oppression with his life and art as an art-house film director. He paid for this with imprisonment, imprisonment and being banned from his profession. Artists as diverse as Fellini, Antonioni, Godard, Aragon, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky and Yves Saint Laurent appreciated him as a master of poetic-surreal cinema and campaigned, albeit in vain, for his freedom. Paradjanov died in Armenia in 1990, shortly before Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, where he had spent most of his time, gained their independence and the Soviet Union collapsed.

Kirill Serebrennikov has so far staged three internationally acclaimed productions at the Thalia: "The Black Monk", "The Vij" and "BAROCCO". "LEGENDE" will be his fourth and final production at the Thalia.

World premiere November 30, 2024, Thalia Theater

Co-production with the Ruhrtriennale 2024 and the Kirill & Friends Company