was born on September 21, 1936 in Tbilisi. In 1955, he started his studies in philology at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University but left it and started to work as an assistant to a filmmaker at the Kartuli Filmi (Georgian Film Studio). From 1959-1964, he studied filmmaking under Aleksander Zguridi at the National Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. In 1966, he shot his diploma film, Shabati rom dagamdeba (When Saturday is Over). From 1968–1971, he worked at TV Film Studio. Kartlos Khotivari died in 1989.