Vartanov was blacklisted for his debut film, The Color of Land (1969), where he portrayed his dissident friends Paradjanov (imprisoned in 1974) and Minas (assassinated in 1975). When Vartanov's artistic freedom was restored 20 years later, he responded with Minas: A Requiem (1989) and Parajanov: The Last Spring (1992) - his masterpiece, which was admired by some of cinema's most important luminaries, including Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.

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