Education:
M.F.A., University of Iowa - 1999 (Film and Video Production)
M.A., University of Iowa - 1995 (Linguistics)
B.A. in Philology of Germanic Languages, State University of St. Petersburg, Russia - 1991 (English Language and Literature)
Areas of Expertise:
Irina Patkanian's areas of research include principles of montage, performance in narrative film, video art and documentary as well as screen and stage adaptations of literary texts. In her own work she is experimenting with blurring borders between fiction and nonfiction, personal and political, archival and contemporary footage, text and subtext (acting), performance and appearance.
Creative Work
Travelled to the Republic to Georgia to create video installation for the multimedia concert "Sacred Songs of Sakartvelo," commissioned by Texas State University. 2011
Directed/produced multi-camera productions of the spring season of "Very Young People's Concerts," commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. 2010
Armed Defense, a short film based on a story by Dmitry Bakin that I adapted / directed / produced, was officially selected to play at Big Muddy Film Festival, Carbondale, Ill.; Athens International Film Festival, Ohio; M.A.L.I. Women's Film & Performance Arts Festival, Austin, Texas; Connecticut International Film Festival, Danbury, Conn.; and 32nd Starz Denver Film Festival. 2009
My American Neighbor, a 30-minute documentary about perception of the U.S. and American dream abroad, premiered at the Independent Television Festival in Los Angeles in July 2007 and was officially selected to play at the following festivals: International Social Uprising, Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement Film Festival, Portland, Ore.,; Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Arkansas; Big Damn Film Festival, Chicago; San Francisco Indie Film Festival; Big Muddy Film Festival, Carbondale, Ill.; Indianapolis International Film Festival; Seattle True Independent Film Festival; Connecticut Film Festival; BridgeFest, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Belgrade, Serbia; Philadelphia Independent Film Festival; 62nd University Film & Video Association Conference, Colorado; Golden Apricot, International Armenian Film Festival, Yerevan, Armenia; and Peace on Earth Film Festival, Chicago (best short documentary award). Distributed by Films for the Humanities & Sciences. 2008
Second Egyptian, a short digital film, based on a story by Marina Palei that I adapted/directed/produced premiered at the 2007 San Diego Women Film Festival, where it received "Best Narrative" jury award and subsequently was officially selected to play at the following festivals: Arpa International Film Festival, Los Angeles; Women's International Film Festival, Florida; Newfilmmakers NY, a screening series at Anthology Film Archives, New York; 62nd University Film & Video Association Conference, (award finalist) juried faculty screening, Colorado. 2008
Armenian Lullaby is selected for online exhibition, Imaging Ourselves, by International Museum of Women in Los Angeles. It was awarded the 2007 Best of Middle East Award by the International Museum of Women. 2007
Armenian Lullaby, a five-minute video poem, premiered at the United Nations Association Film Festival at Stanford University and subsequently played at: Golden Lion Film Festival, South Africa; UNAFF Traveling Film Festival, Waukesha, Wis.; UNAFF Traveling Film Festival, Berkeley, Calif.; 7 Islands International Film Festival, Mumbai, India; UNAFF Traveling Film Festival, New York; Globians Doc. Film Fest, Potsdam, Germany; Silver Lake Short Film Festival, Los Angeles; Amnesty International Film Festival, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada; Armenian Film Festival, San Francisco; Global Voices Documentary Film Festival, Boston; Human Rights Film Festival, Monterey, Calif.; United Nations Association FF Stanford University, Calif. 2006
Screening and discussion of My American Neighbor at New Pioneer Theater, New York, as part of Visions, Voices, Videos: Documentary Films by Women Filmmakers--Annette Danto, Irene Sosa and Irina Patkanian. 2006
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Fulbright Fellowship, to spend Spring 2012 in Istanbul doing research for an experimental film about renowned Armenian-Turkish photographer Ara Güler. (Grants and Fellowships) 2011
Jerome Foundation grant, to write/direct/produce the documentary feature Living Here: A Kamchatka Tale," a story of one family in the end of Siberia told from a perspective of a horse. $25,000. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
NYSCA grant (Individual Artist/Film), to write/direct/produce animated documentary about the Mozambican civil war. $29,000. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
PSC-CUNY Research Foundation grant, to develop an animated documentary about the civil war in Mozambique. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation grant, to help offset production expenses of a documentary feature, Living Here. Kamchatka Tale. $5,000. (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
Leonard & Claire Tow Faculty Travel Grant, to travel to Mozambique for research and production of an animated documentary about the Mozambican civil war. (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
PSC-CUNY Research Award, to begin production of a feature-length documentary, Living Here. Kamchatka Tale. $6,000. (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
Texas State University grant, to collaborate with Jonathan Babcock on Sacred Voice of Sacartvelo, a documentary film about folk songs of the Republic of Georgia. $8,000. (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
2007 NYSCA Grant (Individual Artists/Film & New Technologies), to direct/produce a short film, Armed Defense, based on a short story by an anti-Booker Prize-winning Russian writer Dmitry Bakin. (Grants and Fellowships) 2007
Brooklyn College Award for Excellence in Creative Achievement. (Awards and Honors) 2007
Leonard & Claire Tow Faculty Travel grant, to travel to France, Israel and Russia for research and development of a screenplay, Costs of Memory. Trial of Sholom Schwartzbard, based on the 1927 trial of Sholom Schwartzbard, who in summer 1924 assassinated the former president and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Directory, Simon Petliura, whom he held responsible for the pogroms of Ukrainian Jews. (Grants and Fellowships) 2006
Leonard & Claire Tow Faculty Travel Grant, to travel to Russia, Italy, Egypt and Greece to shoot interviews with American citizens for My American Neighbor, a 30-minute documentary essay that invites the audience to reflect on the importance of distance in one's understanding of homeland. (Grants and Fellowships) 2004
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"Seeing What You Mean...Designing Production Exercises Around Specific Concepts." Approaches to Teaching: Putting Theory Into Practice Workshop. Society for Cinema & Media Studies Conference. New Orleans. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
LIving Here: A Kamchatka Tale selected to participate in the Documentary Pitch Forum at the Tromso International Film Festival, Tromso, Norway, organized by European Documentary Network. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2010
"Acting Subtext in Kira Muratova's film 'Three Stories'" guest lecture. SUNY Purchase. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Acting Subtext in Kira Muratova's film 'Three Stories'" guest lecture. Yale University. New Haven, Conn. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
Conversations With Filmmakers panel, Focus on French Cinema Film Festival and Conference. Introduced and discussed films and participated in panel. SUNY Purchase. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2006
"Shakespeare on Film & Television" digital essay. Symposium on Andre Bazin's Essay "Theater & Cinema." Yale University. New Haven, Conn. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2005
Panel moderator, Translation Think Tank/Carte Blanche, an all-day symposium on translations and theater adaptation of modern French playwrights. With Tom Sellar, Marion Schoevaert, Leonora Champagne and Hillalry Gardner. Screened a short video about the festival, featuring clips from various productions. CUNY Graduate Center. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Contributed Talk) 2005
