Tato Kotetishvili was born on January 1, 1959 in Tbilisi. In 1982, he graduated from Shota Rustaveli Theatrical Institute (now Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University) where he studied filmmaking under Eldar Shengelaia. One of his films made during studies at the Institute, Hero, won the All Union Film Festival prize. However, the film was not screened in Georgia. His following film Train shared the same fate. Tato Kotetishvili lived and worked in Austria and Netherlands. He died on May 16, 1997.