Georgian Filmmaker Giorgi Danelia Dies Aged 88

Georgian filmmaker Giorgi Daniela died aged 88 in Moscow on April 4, local media has reported. The award-winning director, screenwriter and actor had been suffering with illness.

Danelia was admitted to hospital in Moscow with pneumonia in February and was placed in a medically induced coma.

Born in Tbilisi in 1930, Danelia left a significant mark on cinema during his career. He joined the Mosfilm cinema studio in Russia, where he studied film under the Georgian avant-garde filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov.

Daniela directed over a dozen works during the 60s when rigid censorship rules were slightly loosened.

His first film, Seryozha was released in 1960 and went on the win the top prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the same year, as well as awards from the United States’ National Board of Review and the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

His contribution to Soviet and Georgian cinema gained him the title of the People’s Artist of the USSR in 1989 and the Order of Honour of Georgia in 2000.

By Amy Jones

Photo source - National Parliamentary Library of Georgia