Directing

Robert Sahakyants

Born August 30, 1950 · Agdash, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR [now Azerbaijan]

Died September 24, 2009 · aged 59

Robert Arshavirovich Sahakyants (Armenian: Ռոբերտ Սահակյանց, Russian: Роберт Аршавирович Саакянц, 30 August 1950 – 24 September 2009) was an Armenian animator in the former Soviet Union and Armenia. Sahakyants was born in Baku, in Soviet Azerbaijan, on 30 August 1950. In 1964, he and his family moved to Yerevan, Soviet Armenia. Since 1970, he has worked at the Armenfilm film studio as an animator…

Known For

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream · 1992

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Ananas Bananas

Ananas Bananas · 2004

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

Not everybody is endowed with a vivid imagination. One person can imagine paradise, yet the other one can only imagine himself as being the boss.

Abu-Hasan's Slippers

Abu-Hasan's Slippers · 1974

Abu-Hasan's Slippers

For Hasan the cobbler, the skins he sewed become a scourge, and one day they even "kill" a person. Baregut Sultan makes a verdict and the skins are hanged in the square.

A Thousand and One Tricks

A Thousand and One Tricks · 1981

A Thousand and One Tricks

The king goes out onto the streets of his kingdom to find out how his people feel about him.

The Little Farmer

The Little Farmer · 1983

The Little Farmer

A young boy spends his entire day working in the fields, enjoying the company of animals, and joyfully singing along with them.

The Button

The Button · 1989

Every time a Soviet apparatchik presses a button, something explodes.

Wow! A Talking Fish!

Wow! A Talking Fish! · 1983

Wow! A Talking Fish!

MovieAnimationFamily

A fisherman catches a talking fish and spares its life. After that, he meets a grotesque, evil monster in a state of constant change.

Ո՞Վ Է ՔՈ ԸՆԿԵՐԸ

Ո՞Վ Է ՔՈ ԸՆԿԵՐԸ · 1985

Ո՞Վ Է ՔՈ ԸՆԿԵՐԸ

MovieAnimationAdventure

Filmography

Sort

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream · 1992

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Director

Ananas Bananas

Ananas Bananas · 2004

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

Not everybody is endowed with a vivid imagination. One person can imagine paradise, yet the other one can only imagine himself as being the boss.

Writer

Abu-Hasan's Slippers

Abu-Hasan's Slippers · 1974

Abu-Hasan's Slippers

For Hasan the cobbler, the skins he sewed become a scourge, and one day they even "kill" a person. Baregut Sultan makes a verdict and the skins are hanged in the square.

Animation

A Thousand and One Tricks

A Thousand and One Tricks · 1981

A Thousand and One Tricks

The king goes out onto the streets of his kingdom to find out how his people feel about him.

Writer

The Little Farmer

The Little Farmer · 1983

The Little Farmer

A young boy spends his entire day working in the fields, enjoying the company of animals, and joyfully singing along with them.

Writer

The Button

The Button · 1989

Every time a Soviet apparatchik presses a button, something explodes.

Writer

Wow! A Talking Fish!

Wow! A Talking Fish! · 1983

Wow! A Talking Fish!

MovieAnimationFamily

A fisherman catches a talking fish and spares its life. After that, he meets a grotesque, evil monster in a state of constant change.

Director

Ո՞Վ Է ՔՈ ԸՆԿԵՐԸ

Ո՞Վ Է ՔՈ ԸՆԿԵՐԸ · 1985

Ո՞Վ Է ՔՈ ԸՆԿԵՐԸ

MovieAnimationAdventure

Animation Director

Wow, Butter Week!

Wow, Butter Week! · 1985

Wow, Butter Week!

A clever boy punishes a greedy landlord. Based on the Armenian folk tale by Hovhannes Tumanyan.

Director

The Norfin Adventures: Castle of Doom

The Norfin Adventures: Castle of Doom · 1994

The Norfin Adventures: Castle of Doom

The magical trolls are in for a night full of ghosts and goblins as they enter the "Castle of Doom" on Halloween night.

Director

Elections

Elections · 1994

Animated short about presidential elections of 1991 and its consequences in the Armenian people’s life under the rule of Pan-Armenian National Movement. Based on a song by Armenian poet and songwriter Ruben Hakhverdyan.

Director

Three fairy tales

Three fairy tales · 1986

Three fairy tales

Three stories about naive and deceitful people, a talkative mouse, and a foolish king.

Animation

Unlucky Panos

Unlucky Panos · 1980

Panos is one of the unluckiest men in the world. One day, while he was swimming in the lake, some villagers found his clothes on the shore and announced he had drowned.

Writer

Yellow SubmarYAN

Yellow SubmarYAN · 2002

Yellow SubmarYAN

MovieAnimationMusic

Four characters sing while on an animated odyssey in a yellow spaceship. Through their adventures they explore the idea of how western culture and media had begun to permeate Armenia in the 90's and 00's. While romanticizing classic Armenian folklore and, to an extent, the Soveit era in Armenia. The era in which director Robert Sahakyants lived most of his life.

Writer

Optimus Mundus 4. The Best City on Earth

Optimus Mundus 4. The Best City on Earth · 1998

Optimus Mundus 4. The Best City on Earth

Director

In the Blue Sea, in the White Foam...

In the Blue Sea, in the White Foam... · 1984

In the Blue Sea, in the White Foam...

MovieAnimationFamily

Musical fantasy based on Armenian fairy tales.

Director

The Resourceful Peasant

The Resourceful Peasant · 1984

The Resourceful Peasant

A folk parable about a resourceful peasant who cured the king of his poor appetite.

Director

The Resourceful Peasant

The Resourceful Peasant · 1986

The Resourceful Peasant

A king believes the peasants are hoarding all the good food.

Director

The Lazy Fox

The Lazy Fox · 1976

All animals in the forest have their own roles, except for the fox. He feels useless until he accidentally discovers his hidden talent.

Director

Who Painted the Red Sea?

Who Painted the Red Sea? · 1985

Who Painted the Red Sea?

A little liar on the back desk during a geography lesson talks about his summer adventures.

Art Direction

The Norfin Adventures: A Norfin Noel

The Norfin Adventures: A Norfin Noel · 1994

The Norfin Adventures: A Norfin Noel

The Norfins are in for a delightful surprise when a charming alien with magical powers drops in for a visit.

Director

The Lazy One

The Lazy One · 1975

A story about a very lazy man. One day he tricks his friends that he has found gold and mentions a made-up place. What a surprise when they really find it.

Production Design

Taverne

Taverne · 2004

A large pink bunny has adventures and many drinks at the tavern in between.

Director

Who Will Tell A Fable?

Who Will Tell A Fable? · 1982

Who Will Tell A Fable?

"...whoever tells me a story and I say, "It's not true, I don't believe it," will receive half the kingdom as a reward." decided the bored king.

Director

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales · 1992

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

SeriesAnimation

An animated adaptation of twelve of Shakespeare's best-known plays. The series was produced by S4C for the BBC, but animated by some of the foremost artists of Soyuzmultfilm, the former Soviet Union's main animation studio. Each 26-minute play is directed by a different animator, in a wide variety of styles: cel animation for Macbeth, stop-motion puppets in Twelfth Night, and paint on glass for Hamlet.

Director

World History

World History · 2009

SeriesKidsFamily

An educational animated series about the rise and fall of civilisations. Using a magic door to the "storehouse" of history, a wise grandfather and his curious grandson travel into the distant past – they go to Babylon, befriend a group of ancient humans, and stop by Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece.

Screenplay