Rezo Chkheidze

Revaz Chkheidze
Revaz Chkheidze 1966
Born(1926-12-08)8 December 1926
Kutaisi, Georgian SSR (now Georgia)
Died3 May 2015(2015-05-03) (aged 88)
Tbilisi, Georgia
Alma materShota Rustaveli Theatre and Film University
OccupationFilm director
Years active1953–2008
AwardsPeople's Artist of the USSR

Revaz "Rezo" Chkheidze (Georgian: რევაზ "რეზო" ჩხეიძე; 8 December 1926 – 3 May 2015) was a Georgian film director,[1] People's Artist of the USSR, best known for his Soviet-era drama films, including his 1964 World War II-themed Father of a Soldier.

Biography

Born in Kutaisi in the family of the writer Davit Chkheidze (he would be executed during the Great Purge in 1937), Chkheidze studied acting at Tbilisi State Institute of Theatre from 1943 to 1946 and continued his education under Sergei Yutkevich and Mikhail Romm at VGIK in Moscow from 1949 to 1953.[2] Chkheidze directed twelve films and a TV miniseries between 1953 and 2008. He rose to fame with Magdana's Donkey, co-directed with Tengiz Abuladze, which won the Best Fiction Short award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.[3] His 1964 film Father of a Soldier was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival.[4] The Saplings of 1972 won a diploma at the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.[5]

During the Soviet era, Chkheidze was a Communist Party member[6] and also served as secretary of Georgian SSR Union of Cinematography, then a top decision-making body in the field, from 1963 to 1981. Also, he was twice elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1974 and 1979.[7] He was appointed executive director of Georgia's Kartuli Pilmi studio in 1973, a position he held, intermittently, into the 1990s.[6]

Among Chkheidze's awards and accolades were the title of People’s Artist of the Soviet Union (1980), All-Union Film Festival Prize (1973, 1981), Lenin Prize (1986),[2] Georgia's Order of Honor (1996), and Honorary Citizenship of Tbilisi (2001).[8] A star in his honor was opened by Georgia's Ministry of Culture in front of the Rustaveli Cinema in Tbilisi in 2013.[9]

Revaz Chkheidze died on 3 May 2015. He was buried on 7 May at the Didube Pantheon in Tbilisi.[10]

Chkheidze's daughter Tamar (b. 1960) is a historian and former Soviet-era dissident who was active in Georgia's politics in the 1980s and early 1990s.[11]

Selected filmography

Filmography

As director
  • Boris Paichadze (1953)
  • In Our Courtyard (1956)
  • Maia Tskneteli (1959)
  • Treasure (1961)
  • Zgvis biliki (1962)
  • Father of a Soldier (1964)
  • Look at These Young People! (1969)
  • The Saplings (1972)
  • Earth, This Is Your Son (1980)
  • Tskhovreba Don Kikhotisa da Sancho Pansasi (1988) (TV Mini-Series)
  • Matskhovris Saplavze Antebuli Santeli (2008)
As writer
  • Qeratmiani qalishvili (1968) (TV Short)
  • Earth, This Is Your Son (1980)
  • Tskhovreba Don Kikhotisa da Sancho Pansasi (1988) (TV Mini-Series)
  • Matskhovris Saplavze Antebuli Santeli (2008)

References

  1. ^ კინორეჟისორი რეზო ჩხეიძე გარდაიცვალა (in Georgian)
  2. ^ a b Sleeman, Elizabeth, ed. (2003). "Chkheidze, Revaz". The International Who's Who 2004 (67 ed.). Europa Publications. p. 316. ISBN 1857432177.
  3. ^ "Awards 1956 : All Awards". Cannes. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  4. ^ "4th Moscow International Film Festival (1965)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  5. ^ "8th Moscow International Film Festival (1973)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  6. ^ a b Rollberg, Peter, ed. (2008). "Chkheidze, Ramaz". Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-0810862685.
  7. ^ "Georgian film director Rezo Chkheidze dies at age 88". Democracy & Freedom Watch. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Revaz Chkheidze". Biographical Dictionary of Georgia. National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Rezo Chkheidze, creator of prominent Georgian film on WWII dies". Agenda.ge. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Rezo Chkheidze will be buried in Didube Pantheon today". Rustavi 2. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  11. ^ McCauley, Martin, ed. (1993). "Chkheidze, Tamara Revazovna". Longman Biographical Directory of Decision-makers in Russia and the Successor States. Longman. p. 117. ISBN 0582209994.

External links

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