Tjeknavorian learns more about himself from “October 13, 1937”

The biopic was screened at Cinéma Vérité, the Iranian international festival for documentary films, on Thursday.

Tjeknavorian, Abtin and critic Ali-Asghar Keshani attended a press conference after the screening of the documentary in Tehran.

“I am very happy being with you tonight,” Tjeknavorian told the audience and added, “I am glad that a film has been made me. I saw myself in the film again and learned more about myself.”

“When we talk, we do not hear ourselves. Such films make us to hear ourselves. Moreover, the films force us to learn what to say and what not to say,” he stated.

He said that he receives his inspiration from people and added, “I have always been delighted to be living with the Iranian people, culture and traditions.”

By his wit and humor, Tjeknavorian has added to the attractions of the documentary, Keshani said.

“In my views, man should always live happily. Laughing is the sun of life. I always laugh at everything. However, this does not mean that I do not feel pain. My pain is visible in my works, but I think we should always laugh. A person should never take himself or herself too seriously. If a person does so, he or she will age rapidly,” Tjeknavorian said.

“I am alone in most of the time. I spend my life in solitude, writing, listening and painting. However, always I prefer to be laughing,” he added.

Tjeknavorian was born in 1937 in Borujerd in the southwestern Iranian province of Lorestan and was educated in Tehran.

After he studied violin and piano at the Tehran Conservatory of Music, he studied composition at the Vienna Music Academy, where he graduated with honors in 1961.

Tjeknavorian has performed throughout the world, having conducted international orchestras in Austria, Britain, the United States, Canada, Hungary, Iran, Finland, the former Soviet Union, Armenia, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Africa and Denmark.

His own compositions have been performed by major orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra in New York, and the Tehran Symphony Orchestra.

MMS/YAW

MNA

END