Georgia, Alone 1995

The horrific war in Chechnya, a neighbor of Georgia, gives a special poignancy to Otar Iosseliani’s fascinating, four-hour, made-for-television documentary on Georgia which, like his delightful Chasing Butterflies (SFIFF 1993), was produced in France. Iosseliani presents the history of this former Soviet republic through beautifully interwoven images of landscapes, artwork and clips from other Georgian filmmakers such as Nikoloz Shengalaya and Tenghiz Abuladze. He illuminates the part played recently by two politicians, both KGB men but with very different destinies: Zviad Gamsakhurdia, an ultranationalistic demagogue who died in exile; and Eduard Shevardnadze, who is the president of Georgia today.

Grandma for Everybody 1987

Full Circle 1986

Tbilisi, early 1980s. From the outside, everything seems calm, but behind this tranquillity there is turmoil. Manana, who used to be a movie star, is no longer remembered by any director. Her childhood friend Rusudan suffers from loneliness despite a successful scientific career. Manana's aunt, Matiko, mourns her late husband. Her daughter, 19-year-old Salome, and her friends are also facing life's difficulties. Through strange coincidences, the lives of the film's characters become intertwined...

Mister Adventurers 1985

Foreign adventurers arrive in a small town of Georgia on a special mission, but locals hospitality and customs make them forget their goals completely.

A Day Longer Than Night 1983

This somber story of love lost forever is set against the backdrop of the changes that Communism brought to the state of Georgia in the former USSR after the 1917 Revolution. Eva and Archil are deeply in love and they pledge to be with each other always. After they marry, Archil dies suddenly and Eva is left alone and childless. Along comes the ruthless Spiridon who romances Eva and marries her - though his cold and cruel spirit break Eva's naturally buoyant self, until she sullenly eats alone, and avoids intimacy with her husband as much as possible. They adopt a daughter, who does not take sides between her glum mother and silent father. When the Communist cadres enter their village to promote the ideals of the October revolution, Eva starts to warm to her husband a little because he joins in that movement. Then her husband commits the fatal error of revealing a previous crime - an error that will later cause their grown daughter to question her parents' strange behavior.

How I Can Live Without You? 1980

A young man, who avoided military service thanks to his caring parents, is enjoying his student life. Suddenly, his closest friend, who has returned from the army, dies heroically. The young man feels a twinge of conscience and begins to reevaluate his life.

ნიკა მთაში 1979

Nika is a bold city boy. His father, dissatisfied with his hobbies, sends him to the mountains with his geologists friends. Here, in a new environment, Nika's personality is formed.

Some Interviews on Personal Matters 1978

Sophiko, a well-known journalist, seems to be more close to many of her respondents when they need her advice than to her family members. All engrossed in her work, she suddenly finds out that she is losing her husband who has started a love affair with another woman. Of course, it strikes her badly but life never lets her to concentrate on her personal problems.

Living Legends 1976

The stone-cutter, Nasdika, transforms stones into works of art. The labourer, Ivané, harvests wheat in the field. The monk, Béka, paints his pictures in the convent cell. The nobleman, Kirilé, has decided to get married. The war started by enemies turns all these people into warriors. Living Legends is a parable, a hymn to the glory of the georgian people, enamoured of freedom and independence, whose most worthy sons have never hesitated to die in the name of the glorious future of their country.

Don't Believe that I'm No Longer Here 1975

The film is based on a real story. Climbers found the purse of a military postman killed during World War II, letters sent 30 years later.

Story of Ivane Kotorashvili 1974

Ivane does not think about starting a family life, so the villagers deicide to force him marry and try to take him and his bride to the church using all the possible means.

There Once Was a Singing Blackbird 1970

Gia is a carefree young percussionist who works at a theater in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. He lives in a small apartment with his mother. Gia spends his days flitting from friend to friend, lover to lover, avoiding any responsibility, and never staying still for five minutes. However, he always manages to arrive at the theater just in time to play the drums at the end of the ballet.