Revaz "Rezo" Chkheidze ( ka, რევაზ "რეზო" ჩხეიძე; 8 December 1926 – 3 May 2015) was a Georgian film director, People's Artist of the USSR, best known for his Soviet-era drama films, including his 1964

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-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 The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...

in 1937), Chkheidze studied acting at Tbilisi State Institute of Theatre from 1943 to 1946 and continued his education under

Sergei Yutkevich Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich (russian: Серге́й Ио́сифович Ютке́вич, 28 December 1904 – 23 April 1985) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1962) and a Hero of ...

and Mikhail Romm at

VGIK The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (russian: Всероссийский государственный институт кинематографии имени С. А. Герасимова, meaning ''All-Russian State Institute of Cinemat ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

from 1949 to 1953. Chkheidze directed twelve films and a TV miniseries between 1953 and 2008. He rose to fame with ''

Magdana's Donkey ''Magdana's Donkey'' ( ka, მაგდანას ლურჯა, Magdanas Lurja, russian: Лурджа Магданы, Lurja magdani) is a 1955 Georgian black-and-white social-themed drama film co-directed by Revaz Chkheidze and Tengiz Abula ...

'', co-directed with Tengiz Abuladze, which won the Best Fiction Short award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. His 1964 film ''Father of a Soldier'' was entered into the

4th Moscow International Film Festival The 4th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 5 to 20 July 1965. The Grand Prix was shared between the Soviet film ''War and Peace'' directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and the Hungarian film ''Twenty Hours'' directed by Zoltán Fábri. J ...

. '' The Saplings'' of 1972 won a diploma at the

8th Moscow International Film Festival The 8th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 10 to 23 July 1973. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Soviet film '' That Sweet Word: Liberty!'' directed by Vytautas Žalakevičius and the Bulgarian film ''Affection'' directed by Lud ...

. During the Soviet era, Chkheidze was a

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

member 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. He was appointed executive director of Georgia's Kartuli Pilmi studio in 1973, a position he held, intermittently, into the 1990s. Among Chkheidze's awards and accolades were the title of

People’s Artist of the Soviet Union People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

(1980),

All-Union Film Festival The All-Union Film Festival (russian: Всесоюзный кинофестиваль; tr.:''Vsesoyuznyy kinofestival'', also known as ВКФ; ''VKF'') was one of the most important film festivals of the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1958 and he ...

Prize (1973, 1981), Lenin Prize (1986), Georgia's Order of Honor (1996), and Honorary Citizenship of Tbilisi (2001). A star in his honor was opened by Georgia's Ministry of Culture in front of the Rustaveli Cinema in Tbilisi in 2013. Revaz Chkheidze died on 3 May 2015. He was buried on 7 May at the

Didube Pantheon The Didube Pantheon ( ka, დიდუბის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი) is a cemetery in Tbilisi, Georgia, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, s ...

in Tbilisi. 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.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1956) * '' Father of a Soldier'' (1964) * '' The Saplings'' (1972)

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 Panchosi'' (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 Panchosi'' (1988) (TV Mini-Series) * ''Matskhovris Saplavze Antebuli Santeli'' (2008)

References

External links

*
Revaz Chkheidze
on Georgian National Filmography
Revaz Chkheidze
on Kinoglaz {{DEFAULTSORT:Chkheidze, Rezo 1926 births 2015 deaths Film directors from Georgia (country) Soviet film directors People from Kutaisi People's Artists of Georgia Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Lenin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia)