The Two Sayats: The Color of Pomegranates (1969) & the novel The Highlands Burn (2026) (feat. THB author Joe Kassabian & theatre actress Mari Vial-Golden)

Episode recorded: April 18th, 2026 (04/18/2026) April is the Armenian American Heritage Month, this means Jay is going to talk about The Color of Pomegranates, that one Armenian movie he mentioned in last year’s Halloween Special. Before that, he invited two creatives of Armenian background - one is his close friend and another is a novelist who has his latest novel publishing soon. Mari Vial-Golden is a theatre actress while Joe Kassabian is a military history podcaster with his gunpowder fantasy novel The Highlands Burn soon coming out. By pure coincidence, The Color of Pomegranates is about a real-life ashugh Sayat-Nova, and the main character of The Highlands Burn is named Sayat. Before going into Sergei Parajanov’s tableau vivants movie, Jay is going to ask Joe about the inspirations behind his upcoming novel. After that, we will deep dive into Parajanov's filmography, his influences from illustrated manuscripts, Armenia’s rich animation culture, and whether The Highlands Burn would be considered as “the first Armenian anime”? And sorry for Jay explaining the summary of these Armenian shorts poorly. The Color of Pomegranates is currently distributed by Janus Films. It is now part of the Criterion Collection and available on video-on-demand, streaming, blu-ray, and DVD. Mari’s website: https://www.marivialgolden.com/ Joe Kassabian’s social media profile: https://bsky.app/profile/jkass99.bsky.social Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast’s Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Pre-order Joe Kassabian’s The Highlands Burn: https://a.co/d/09pahrj0 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ReAnimateTHISPodcast For inquiries: [email protected] Some promotions, shout outs, and fundraising: Scout Tafoya’s Stubborn Beast GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/383ef7b6b Link to the ticket page for the premiere of Ryan’s short Dork at the Coney Island Film Festival: https://www.coneyisland.com/2026-ciff/program-7 Link to the ticket page for the New York City screening of Hellavision Television’s CUNT-A-VISION 2.0: Fix Your Heart Or Die: https://restlessnites.com/events/hellavisioncuntavision21may2026 For info on more screenings of Hellavision Television’s CUNT-A-VISION 2.0: Fix Your Heart Or Die: https://www.hellavisiontelevision.com/episodes/cunt-a-vision-2-0-fix-your-hearts-or-die https://www.hellavisiontelevision.com/links ARMOR Coalition: https://www.instagram.com/armorcoalition/ The Garod Collective: https://www.instagram.com/garod_collective/ Arshak Makichyan: https://www.instagram.com/makichyan.arshak/ Warren Manvelyan: https://www.instagram.com/warren.manvelyan/ Anoush Ter Taulian: https://www.instagram.com/anoushforjustice/ (for funds to help the displaced people of Artsakh): https://venmo.com/u/anoushforjustice https://freearmenianprisoners.com/ For Vrej Khatchatyran’s education fund: https://donorbox.org/my-sweet-land-vrejs-fund Intro music: WANDERLUST (Celest3 mix) by Celest3 - https://celest3.bandcamp.com/track/wanderlust-celest3-mix (CC BY-SA 4.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Ad break music: Early Riser by Kevin MacLeod - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Best_of_2014_1461/Early_Riser (licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License) Ending music: Arizona Green Tea by Stuffy Doll - https://stuffydollband.bandcamp.com/track/arizona-green-tea (used it with a permission) Narrator: Dom Valentini Audio Editor: Jay Whang & Jessie Hymowitz Movies, shorts, and tv shows we have mostly discussed during the episode (spoilers ahead): The Color of Pomegranates (Նռան գույնը) (1969), directed by Sergei Parajanov The Highlands Burn (2026), written by Joe Kassabian Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Тіні забутих предків) (1965), directed by Sergei Parajanov The Legend of Suram Fortress (ამბავი სურამის ციხისა) (1985), directed by Sergei Parajanov & Dodo Abashidze Ashik Kerib (აშიკ-ქერიბი) (1988), directed by Sergei Parajanov & Dodo Abashidze Ivan’s Childhood (Ива́ново де́тство) (1962), directed by Andrei Tarkovsky Wow, a Talking Fish! (Ух ты, говорящая рыба!) (1983), directed by Robert Sahakyants Lilit (Լիլիթ) (1972), directed by Robert Sahakyants Lur-Da-Lur (Լուր-դա-լուր) (1972), directed by Valentin Podpomogov The Legend of Parvana Lake (Փարվանա) (1970), directed by Valentin Podpomogov The Snow Queen (Снежная королева) (1957), directed by Lev Atamanov My Sweet Land (Տունս քաղցր ա) (2024), directed by Sareen Hairabedian Aurora's Sunrise (Արշալույսի լուսաբացը) (2022), directed by Inna Sahakyan Most of sources that I have cited: Parajanov is special to me: Tarsem Singh meets fans within the framework of Golden Apricot - Armenpress Armenian news agency. armenpress. (2024, July 12). https://armenpress.am/en/article/1195642 Animation Obsessive Staff. (2024, February 2). In flux with Robert Sahakyants. Animation Obsessive. https://animationobsessive.substack.com/p/in-flux-with-robert-sahakyants Paradzhanov, S. (1998). Seven visions (G. Ackerman & G. Bennett, Trans.). Green Integer. Suny, R. G. (1988). The making of the georgian nation. Indiana University Press in association with Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. Dowsett, C. J. F. (1997). Sayatʻ-Nova: An 18th-century troubadour: A biographical and literary study (Vol. 561). Peeters. Stone, N., Stone, M. E., & Bereznyak, A. (2019). Studies in Armenian art: Collected papers. Brill. Robinson, B. W. (1967). Persian miniature painting from collections in the British Isles. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.