Eminent Georgian director Otar Iosseliani creates new film

 Famous Georgian film director Otar Iosseliani is working on a new movie almost 50 years after he won an award at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival.

Filming for the film, titled Winter Song, is currently underway in Georgia and will continue for the next two weeks before Iosseliani and the film crew head to France to film a number of scenes there.

The octogenarian’s latest film is possible thanks to a joint collaboration between Georgian film producing company Studio 99 and French film company Pierre Grise Productions.

"The film is not defined by a particular historical era; it is a kind of journey through different periods of time. Each person is free to determine the age and characters,” said the Ministry of Culture when describing the new film.

In Georgia filming was taking place in the Gamarjveba village in Georgia’s Gardabani district, where some buildings had been specially built for the movie.

A large group of military servicemen is participating in the film. Officials said military vehicles and an infantry battalion consisting of 80 military servicemen were being used in Winter Song. In particular Ministry of Defence personnel were involved in the most difficult scenes of outbreak hostilities.

The film will be released simultaneously in Georgia and France next spring. 

Iosseliani was born in 1934 in Tbilisi and directed his first film in 1958 at age 24. In 1966 he directed his first feature film Giorgobistve, which was presented at the Critics’ Week at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival and won an International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award there.

Between 1984 and 2002 he has won 18 prestigious film awards and nominated for eight other awards. One of his career highlights came in 2002 when he won a Silver Berlin Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival.

At the Pula Film Festival in 2002 he won the Golden Arena award for best film director and in 2007 and 2010 he received Special Jury Awards at the Mar del Plata Film Festival.

On three occasions (1984, 1989 and 1996) Iosseliani won the Grand Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. More recently in 2011 his film Chantrapas was selected as the Georgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards. In total he has created 21 films.