Letters Written by Parajanov from Prison to Go Under the Hammer in Moscow

On December 11, an auction will be held in Moscow, featuring rare letters written by Sergei Parajanov from prison. Among the lots, a sample of the script for the film "Mirror," signed by Andrei Tarkovsky, will also be sold.

According to a statement from the "12 Chairs" auction house, "One of the rare lots of the upcoming auction is a sample of the script for the film 'Mirror,' signed by Andrei Tarkovsky, in a hardcover special edition with additional pages for notes. Only a few copies were printed in this manner for the filming crew. The starting price is 630,000 rubles."

The starting price for Parajanov's letters will be 320,000 rubles each. "These are letters addressed to his sister and cousin, as well as Parajanov's paintings and photographs. The director endured the severe conditions of a strict regime camp. In a letter from 1976, he writes: 'There are 810 days left. I have no strength. Perhaps this is the end.' In letters to his relatives, he writes about hunger and that if he tries to record any of his ideas, he could have his sentence extended."

This lot also includes postcards depicting self-portraits behind barbed wire and dressed in a prison jacket.