The USSR jailed Sergei Parajanov twice; but then a Soviet chief handed him the keys to a film studio. From the wild folk poetry of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors to the living tableaux of The Colour of Pomegranates, the Armenian master built a cinema unlike anything before or since. We explore how his final two features, The Legend of Suram Fortress and Ashik Kerib, became a farewell meditation on the cultures of the Caucasus, and a last act of defiance from the man the Soviet system could never quite silence.

Discover more exclusive video essays likes this on our dedicated YouTube channel .