Tamaz Meliava was born on December 23, 1929 in Tbilisi. In 1948–1951, he studied law at Moscow Law Institute. In 1959, he graduated from Moscow State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) where he studied filmmaking under Sergei Iutkevich. From 1954, he worked as an assistant to director in Kiev film studio and Mosfilm. From 1954, he worked as a director at Mosfilm and Film Studio of Aleksander Dovzhenko. From 1959, he worked as a filmmaker of the Kartuli Filmi (Georgian Film Studio). He was granted an award of Honorary Artist of Georgian SSR in 1967. Tamaz Meliava died on August 27, 1972.