The disappearance of Otar Yoseliani, an undocumented and brash Georgian film director

There are filmmakers whose mere mention is enough to conjure up distinct and iconic moviegoer memories. One of them was Otar Yoseliani. He died this Sunday, December 17, at the age of 89.

Moscow Film School

After studying piano, mathematics and mechanics, Otar Ioselyani applied to the 7th art at the Moscow film school VGIK. He made several short films there and in 1961 a medium-length film called Avril, which was banned by the local authorities. An unfortunate adventure that repeats itself especially in “Falling Leaves”, his first feature film. “These films were not anti-Soviet. They described a reality that could exist without the system, human problems that continued to exist, and which perhaps highlighted the past side of Bolshevism for the censors.”explains the film director.

His career in France

From 1982, Otar Yoselian continued his career in France with Les Favorites de la lune and La Chasse aux fleurs. But the filmmaker remains faithful to his method, namely: “Use the means of comedy, talk about the most serious issues with a smile”. Recognition comes from Adieu, Cow Floor!, selected out of competition at Cannes and French cinema Louis-Deluc, winner of the Goncourt Prize. The filmmaker returned to the Croisette in 2000 to chair the jury. He chose to honor the story of Jome, a boy in love, and a time of drunken horses, thus encouraging young Iranian cinema.

in 2001, Otar Yoseliani Returns to the Berlin Festival with a selected Lund matinee. In 2006, in Gardens in Autumn, he painted a portrait of a politician forced to resign, returning to taste life’s small pleasures. Three years later, the filmmaker returned to directing with Chantrapa, a subtle reflection on the creative conditions of a Georgian filmmaker forced into exile due to censorship in his country.