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Roman Gurgenovich Balayan (Armenian: Ռոման Գուրգենի Բալայան, Russian: Рома́н Гурге́нович Балая́н; born April 15, 1941, in Nerkin Horatagh, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, Soviet Union) is a Ukrainian-Armenian film director. In 1997, he received the title of People’s Artist of Ukraine.
From 1959 to 1961, Balayan worked as an actor at the Stepanakert theater in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. He studied directing at the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography and later at the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University, graduating in 1969. Since 1970, he has been affiliated with the Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kyiv.
Balayan considers himself a disciple of Sergei Parajanov and has earned numerous international awards and nominations.
He is renowned for his film adaptations of literary works by authors such as Anton Chekhov (Kashtanka, 1975; The Kiss, 1983, TV), Ivan Turgenev (The Lone Wolf, 1977; First Love, 1995), and Nikolai Leskov (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, 1989).
One of his most notable films is Flights in Dreams and Reality (1982), a drama exploring depression and midlife crisis. Oleg Yankovsky stars as a creative man in his 40s who feels alienated from society. Upon release, politically aware audiences interpreted the film as a critique of Brezhnev-era stagnation.
Balayan’s 1986 film Guard Me, My Talisman competed at the 43rd Venice Film Festival and won the Golden Tulip at the 1987 International Istanbul Film Festival. His 1977 film Lone Wolf was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festival, and his 2008 film Birds of Paradise was featured at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2018, he announced plans to potentially shoot his next film in the Ukrainian language.
