Otar Iosseliani

A porcelain table service and a painting from the 19th century pass from hand to hand and deteriorate over time, sealing the fate of different characters who cross paths in Paris.

A filmmaker finds creative freedom more elusive than he imagined in this ironic comedy-drama. Tired of the state-appointed producers and censorship in his homeland, Soviet Georgia, Niko decides to move to France, only to find that he has merely traded one type of interference for another.

Vincent lives in a village, along the Rhône. Every morning he goes to the factory to work, and in the evening he takes care of his family. One day, he decides to go on a trip with the money given by his father.

A film adaptation of a short story by O. Henry. In a small neighborhood in Greenwich Village, two young artists, Sue and Johnsy, live in a three-story building. Johnsy has contracted pneumonia and is on the verge of death. Outside her window, leaves are falling from the ivy. Johnsy is convinced that as soon as the last leaf falls, she will die. In the same building, on the ground floor, lives the unsuccessful artist Behrman, who year after year dreams of painting a masterpiece but never even attempts to realize his dream. Academic student film work of the Department of Cinematography at Vserossiyskiy gosudarstvyennyy institut kinematografii imyeni S. A. Gerasimova (VGIK).

Georgian director Otar Iosseliani prepares his film Jardins en Automne. Nothing is conventional in the filmmaker's system: Julie Bertuccelli portrays the gestation and production of a film that seems to follow the freest and most unpredictable poetic intuitions of its creator. The constant and hilarious arguments with the producer, Martine Marignac, a Michel Piccoli transformed into an old woman, and the director's peculiar filming system, in which he signals his actors to start with a whistle, paint a picture of one of the most unclassifiable cinematic experiences in contemporary cinema.

Two old friends have urban adventures connected to the skull of an executed French aristocrat.

A porcelain table service and a painting from the 19th century pass from hand to hand and deteriorate over time, sealing the fate of different characters who cross paths in Paris.

A porcelain table service and a painting from the 19th century pass from hand to hand and deteriorate over time, sealing the fate of different characters who cross paths in Paris.

A filmmaker finds creative freedom more elusive than he imagined in this ironic comedy-drama. Tired of the state-appointed producers and censorship in his homeland, Soviet Georgia, Niko decides to move to France, only to find that he has merely traded one type of interference for another.

A filmmaker finds creative freedom more elusive than he imagined in this ironic comedy-drama. Tired of the state-appointed producers and censorship in his homeland, Soviet Georgia, Niko decides to move to France, only to find that he has merely traded one type of interference for another.

Vincent lives in a village, along the Rhône. Every morning he goes to the factory to work, and in the evening he takes care of his family. One day, he decides to go on a trip with the money given by his father.

Vincent lives in a village, along the Rhône. Every morning he goes to the factory to work, and in the evening he takes care of his family. One day, he decides to go on a trip with the money given by his father.

Two old friends have urban adventures connected to the skull of an executed French aristocrat.

Two old friends have urban adventures connected to the skull of an executed French aristocrat.

Two old friends have urban adventures connected to the skull of an executed French aristocrat.

Nicholas is the eldest son of a wealthy suburban family, whose businesswoman mother makes deals from a helicopter and has an affair with her business partner. His cheerful, alcoholic father, on the other hand, is reduced to a prisoner in his room with his devoted dog and electric train set. Unbeknownst to his parents, Nicholas works as a window cleaner and dish washer in a Parisian cafe. He is also in love with the daughter of another cafe's owner, who, however, has an abusive boyfriend. One night, Nicholas sneaks a few drunken drifters into his family wine cellar and his father unexpectedly takes a liking to the stranger.

Nicholas is the eldest son of a wealthy suburban family, whose businesswoman mother makes deals from a helicopter and has an affair with her business partner. His cheerful, alcoholic father, on the other hand, is reduced to a prisoner in his room with his devoted dog and electric train set. Unbeknownst to his parents, Nicholas works as a window cleaner and dish washer in a Parisian cafe. He is also in love with the daughter of another cafe's owner, who, however, has an abusive boyfriend. One night, Nicholas sneaks a few drunken drifters into his family wine cellar and his father unexpectedly takes a liking to the stranger.

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.

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.

Two old ladies live in a French chateau. When one of them dies, her sister, who lives in Moscow, inherits the property, which soon ends up in the hands of Japanese businessmen.

Two old ladies live in a French chateau. When one of them dies, her sister, who lives in Moscow, inherits the property, which soon ends up in the hands of Japanese businessmen.

When he loses his position as a powerful government minister, Vincent is dropped by his pretty mistress and must begin life anew, without the privileges of power. As he gradually becomes acquainted with milieus which he d either forgotten or never known and a host of sometimes eccentric, often remarkable everyday people, Vincent really begins to start living again.

When he loses his position as a powerful government minister, Vincent is dropped by his pretty mistress and must begin life anew, without the privileges of power. As he gradually becomes acquainted with milieus which he d either forgotten or never known and a host of sometimes eccentric, often remarkable everyday people, Vincent really begins to start living again.

A man tries to escape from his wife in order to visit an exhibition, where he sees a painting representing his own house.

It is a brief documentary which records the life of five Augustinian monks in the little monastery of Castelnuovo dell'Abate, a Tuscan village, as well as the everyday life of people in the small town, from farmers to meat-hackers, from wine-makers to wild boar hunters.

In the mountain village comes a group of young musicians in Tbilisi. Here they are going to relax and rehearse. Sad story about the final rupture occurred, the peasants do not sing beautiful old songs, the musicians play music incomprehensible to them ... Far from the idyllic image of rural life.

In the mountain village comes a group of young musicians in Tbilisi. Here they are going to relax and rehearse. Sad story about the final rupture occurred, the peasants do not sing beautiful old songs, the musicians play music incomprehensible to them ... Far from the idyllic image of rural life.

Events in an idyllic African village are shown in detail in the period just before logging trucks come in and cut down the forest around the villagers, forcing them to move into the wretched shantytowns that surround major cities throughout the undeveloped world. Despite the familiar premise, this surprisingly unsentimental film by Georgian director Otar Ioselliani has several things going for it, beginning with the cinematography and including the natural and unaffected (non-professional) performances of the villagers.

Events in an idyllic African village are shown in detail in the period just before logging trucks come in and cut down the forest around the villagers, forcing them to move into the wretched shantytowns that surround major cities throughout the undeveloped world. Despite the familiar premise, this surprisingly unsentimental film by Georgian director Otar Ioselliani has several things going for it, beginning with the cinematography and including the natural and unaffected (non-professional) performances of the villagers.

A young worker takes a job at a local state run winery only to discover and become disillusioned by the corruption of the Soviet State.

A witty, despairing French-Russian-Italian-Swiss art movie set in 16th-century Georgia, Stalinist Georgia, contemporary Georgia, and contemporary Paris, featuring the same set of actors in all four settings.

A witty, despairing French-Russian-Italian-Swiss art movie set in 16th-century Georgia, Stalinist Georgia, contemporary Georgia, and contemporary Paris, featuring the same set of actors in all four settings.

Documentary of the Rustavi Metal Works, in the country of Georgia.

Documentary of the Rustavi Metal Works, in the country of Georgia.

Amidst the hills of the ancient city of Mtskheta, an aging man nearing his hundredth year is forced to make way for a new road being paved through the blossoming garden of floral delights that he loves and cares for.

"Before we started work on the film "Les Favoris de la Lune" , I tried to capture on film my first impressions of the city and the people who inhabit it. This etude of Paris, slightly shortened, was shown on television." -- Otar Ioseliani

"Before we started work on the film "Les Favoris de la Lune" , I tried to capture on film my first impressions of the city and the people who inhabit it. This etude of Paris, slightly shortened, was shown on television." -- Otar Ioseliani

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.

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.

A critique of materialism, the film is about a young couple who live in a rundown empty apartment. Their love is so strong that it makes the water flow and the electricity work, but when they start purchasing furniture and knickknacks, they fight and grow apart.

A critique of materialism, the film is about a young couple who live in a rundown empty apartment. Their love is so strong that it makes the water flow and the electricity work, but when they start purchasing furniture and knickknacks, they fight and grow apart.

Part of a series in which foreign filmmakers portray a region or town in France. Otar Iosselani looks at the Basque region and its inhabitants.

A short documentary film made by Otar Iosseliani in 1967 for the Film Journal, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire, presenting an official chronicle of the anniversary celebrations.

Under the premise of documenting for the sake of preservation the various forms of Georgian religious chanting, a distinct kind of sonorous psalmody passed over from generation to generation, what Otar Iosseliani captures in reality is the snapshot of a not-so-distant past that coexists with the world we might know yet transports us to what used to be.

Under the premise of documenting for the sake of preservation the various forms of Georgian religious chanting, a distinct kind of sonorous psalmody passed over from generation to generation, what Otar Iosseliani captures in reality is the snapshot of a not-so-distant past that coexists with the world we might know yet transports us to what used to be.