Otar Ioseliani was born on February 2, 1934 in Tbilisi. He graduated from Tbilisi State Conservatoire in 1952. In 1953-1955, he studied mathematics and mechanics at Moscow State University. In 1965, Ioseliani graduated from the National Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow where he studied film directing under Aleksander Dovzhenko and Micheil Chiaureli. From 1956, he worked in cinema studio Kartuli Filmi (Georgian Film Studio) as a filmmaker’s assistant, editor (1956–1959) and filmmaker of documentaries (1959– 1961). From 1961, he was the Studio’s filmmaker and scriptwriter. Since the 80-ies, Ioseliani has been working in France. He has been granted honorary titles and awards such as Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR (1979), People’s Artist of Georgia (1984), Independent Prize "Triumph" of Russia (1993), Main Award of Berlin Academy (1995), Shota Rustaveli Award (1998) and Gold Medal of French Academy (1999).