Seasons of the Year
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| Seasons of the Year | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Armenian | Տարվա եղանակները |
| Directed by | Artavazd Peleshyan |
| Written by | Artavazd Peleshyan |
| Cinematography | Mikhail Vartanov |
| Edited by | Aïda Galstyan[1] |
| Music by | Tigran Mansurian |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 29 minutes |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Languages | Armenian (minimal dialogue) Russian intertitles |
Seasons of the Year (Armenian: Տարվա եղանակները, romanized: Tarva yeghanaknery; Russian: Времена года, romanized: Vremena goda),[2] also called The Seasons or Four Seasons,[3] is a 1975 Soviet–Armenian short documentary film, directed and written by Artavazd Peleshyan.[4][5] It was his second and last collaboration with cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov, after Autumn Pastoral (1971).[6]
Seasons of the Year was filmed by Mikhail Vartanov in black-and-white on 35 mm film in the Armenian SSR.[7] It was Peleshyan's first film not using archive footage.[8]
Synopsis
The film depicts the struggles of an isolated Armenian farming community against the elements.[9] Armenian folk music is mixed with Vivaldi's Four Seasons. We see the villagers raising sheep and cattle, rolling haystacks down a hillside, dealing with rain and storms, celebrating a wedding, and sliding down a snowy hill while carrying sheep.
Release
Seasons of the Year was released in 1975. Decades later it became critically admired in the West, showing at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival (1990), CPH:DOX (2003), the 68th Venice International Film Festival (2011) and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (2012 and 2021).[9] The scene of farmers sliding down the snowy hills with sheep and rolling haystacks down a steep hill have become famous.[10]