Born in Tbilisi in 1934, Otar Iosseliani trained as a mathematician and conductor before going to the film school in Moscow, and made his Georgian comedies at the Gruziafilm studio. The Soviet authorities restricted his work and he left for France in 1982. His gentle, satirical, almost wordless films show life as a ballet of small incidents and rituals, with sympathy for eccentrics and mistrust of money, bureaucracy and weapons. Favourites of the Moon (1984) won the Special Jury Prize at Venice, and Monday Morning (2002) the Special Jury Prize at Berlin.
Filmography
- Falling Leaves (1966) (1966)
- Pastorale (1976)
- Favourites of the Moon (1984)
- Chasing Butterflies (1992)
- Brigands: Chapter VII (1996)
- Farewell, Home Sweet Home (1999)
- Monday Morning (2002)
- Gardens in Autumn (2006)