Russian → English transcript

Today, at the age of 60, the well-known director died,

actor and TV host Tigran Keosayan.

At the end of last year he was taken to the intensive care unit in critical condition

and fell into a coma.

Doctors did everything possible to save him,

but medicine proved powerless.

The son of the director of cult Soviet films,

he chose a difficult path,

to follow in his father's footsteps,

proving that he was worth something on his own, and he succeeded.

His very first feature film won a prize abroad,

shot by Keosayan in the 1990s,

and a music video for songs by stars remains in many people's memory to this day.

The comedy "Bednaya Sasha", "Prezident i yego vnuchka",

"Landysh Serebristyy" also won the hearts of viewers.

And the patriotic films,

made from scripts by his wife,

media manager Margarita Simonyan,

prompted many to take a fresh look at the events of recent history.

It was an international television feature.

See you in a week.

Meanwhile…

In the meantime, take care of the country, fellow citizens.

Tigran Keosayan has firmly established a reputation

as one of the most influential television figures.

His credits include films, TV series, music videos, commercials, and TV programs.

The works he created or in which he participated,

clearly reflect the era in which they were released.

Our strength is the funny, the sad,

the tragicomic, the human.

Son of Edmond Keosayan,

author of the hugely popular trilogy The Elusive Avengers.

In "The Crown of the Russian Empire"

young Tigran appears in a bit part.

Who told you to steal the crown?

I only lifted the lid.

Why?

Some man told me to, he gave me five.

The first, albeit rather humiliating, lesson in film criticism,

he got from his father too.

Some bad movie was on TV.

I was in sixth grade.

Dad, what a terrible movie!

I said one sentence.

Exactly a split second later I got slapped on the lips.

A smack — but it was really hurtful and unexpected.

He backed up his words.

When you do something yourself,

only then can you judge the work of others.

At VGIK, Keosayan studied alongside Bashirov and Akhlobystin.

His debut film as a director won a prize in Yugoslavia.

It was 1992.

At that time, the trendiest media product in Russia

was the music video.

Keosayan produces and shoots clips in collaboration

with another classmate of his, Bondarchuk Jr.

Natalia Vetlitskaya's first video was a collaborative effort.

And also Sarukhanov, Shufutinsky, Gurskaya — too many to list.

In the second half of the '90s, Russian audiences

were in desperate need of relevant, non-embarrassing cinema.

Since 1997, Keosayan has been making several such films.

First, so to speak, films that met audience expectations.

Second, in fact, they were timely.

An intimate New Year's comedy

Poor Sasha, starring Zbruyev and Glagoleva.

Then the somewhat anti‑official The President and His Granddaughter,

actually with Tabakov as the president.

Report for duty, Uncle Sasha.

Yes, sir!

Well done.

Finally, a touching, lyrical comedy that audiences remembered

Lily of the Valley, featuring the magnificent trio Stoyanov, Tsikalo

and Olesya Zheleznyak, who emerged after the premiere of Znamenity.

Mom!

Oh!

Kirna!

For the fourth anniversary of Crimea's annexation, Keosayan, in collaboration

with his wife, Margarita Simonyan, is filming the movie Crimea

Bridge.

Made with Love.

After that comes the film Immortals about four

veterans of Afghanistan and their reunion 20 years later.

As if a reimagined Belarusian train station, only

for a different generation.

Let's start!

He flew out so beautifully.

Since 2016, an authorial project has been airing on NTV

by Keosayan — "Mezhdunarodnaya Pilorama".

A provocative program that, in his own words,

he got the chance to speak as he pleases about

what he wants.

However, it was more of a hobby, although not least

because of this program, Tigran Keosayan was added

to the sanctions lists of the European Union and Ukraine.

Meanwhile in Russia, his merits were recognized with the awarding

of the title "Honored Art Worker" for many years of

charitable activity.

Without advertising it at all, the director and TV presenter

engaged in charity, recently related

to the special military operation.

It turns out you had a heart attack.

A heart attack?

Yes.

I had two heart attacks.

Long ago?

Eighth, tenth.

No, really, on the program "Zdorovye".

At the end of 2024, Keosayan suffered clinical death.

This became known later, as Margarita

Simonyan wrote on her Telegram channel; he, as many know,

has long had a heart condition.

He had time to finish shooting his last full-length film, "Seven

Days of Petr Semyonovich" — he had finished it as early as the summer

of last year.

But when the film was released, the director was already

in a coma from which he never recovered.