ANIMATOR RUBEN SAHAKIANTS PASSED AWAY

[MosJan]

ANIMATOR RUBEN SAHAKIANTS PASSED AWAy

• After lengthy illness and serious operation, Armenian renowned animator Robert Sahakiants died yesterday evening at the age of 59. Sahakiants had a heart operation on September 23. Robert Sahakiants graduated from Yerevan State Pedagogical Institute. In 1970, he started working at Hayfilm (Armenfilm) Studio as an animation artist and later as an animation director. He authored around a hundred films and 33 animation films A1+ extends its deepest condolences the animator's family, relatives and friends.

[MosJan]

 

Animator Death: Heart failure claims well-known Armenian artist Robert Sahakyants

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Sahakyants died at age 59 By Georg Khachaturyan

 

Published: 25 September, 2009

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Famous Armenian animator Robert Sahakyants died in Yerevan on September 24, aged 59, shortly after undergoing a heart surgery.

 

Sahakyants was taken to hospital on September 21 after he felt a sudden heartache. Doctors revealed aorta exfoliation; the surgery, however, did not save his life.

 

Sahakyants became renowned thanks to an animation film shot still in the 1980s, which was called ‘Knopka’ (thumbtack). The film contains a sharp satire towards the Soviet reality of that epoch, and the animation film is shot in the genre of comic surrealism. After ‘Knopka’ came the films ‘Tebye Armenia’ (To you, Armenia), and ‘Taverna’ (tavern), where he touched upon sad philosophical issues concerning the present and future of Armenia that declared its independence.

 

Among the famous works of Sahakyants is the cycle of animation films based on the tales of Armenian classic writer Hovhannes Tumanyan.

 

In 2002, as a result of cooperation between Robert Sahakyants and an art group later named ‘Yellow Submaryan’, a series of identically titled cartoons were produced.

 

Sahakyants was author and artistic-director of about 30 scenarios of animation films, many of which got awards at international film festivals in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia.

 

In 1987 the animator was awarded with the title of Honored Artist. Sahakyants was the Artistic Director of the Union of Animation Films at the ‘Hayfilm’ film studio.

 

Sahakyants was famous in Armenia not only due to his professional activity, but also for his tough statements concerning different political issues or events.

 

However, in life he was quite different. According to Sahakyants’ colleague – artistic director Erik Muradyan – working with Sahakyants at ‘Zatik’ (lady-bird) Studio, the famous animator was easygoing, kind, friendly, simple and available in communication. “Youth was kept in him, and it is impossible to create animation films without it. This is an irretrievable loss,” Muradyan says.

 

Sahakyants is survived by wife, four children and seven grandchildren. Two of his sons also pursue careers in animation film making.