Mikheil Kobakhidze

Mikheil Kobakhidze (; 5 April 1939 – 13 October 2019) was a Georgian screenwriter, film director, actor and composer. He was born in Tbilisi. A Retrospective of his work was held at the 1996 Venice Film Festival.

Career Mikheil Kobakhidze graduated from VGIK in 1965, As a student, he created the short films "Young Love" and "Carousel". His 1964 graduation film "Wedding" won three prizes at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, including the festival's main prize. However, his original graduation film, "Eight and a Half", was considered anti-Soviet and destroyed by censors.

In 1966 Kobakhidze made the film "Umbrella", which won the main prize in 1967 at the Kraków Film Festival. Themes in Kobakhidze's work such as nonconformism, rebellion, disobedience, and individualism ran against Soviet ideology, causing the filmmaker to run into censorship problems. Kobakhidze spent some time living and working in France. A retrospective of the director's films was organized at the Venice Film Festival in 1996.

Personal life Mikheil Kobakhidze was married to actress and politician Natela Machavariani. Their son was actor Gega Kobakhidze, who, along with his wife Tina Petviashvili and five other Georgians, attempted to hijack a plane to escape from the Soviet Union in 1983.

Filmography YearNameDirectorScreenwriterComposerActor 1961 Young Love 1962 Carousel 1964 Wedding 1967 Umbrella 1969 Musicians 1977 Racing 1977 The Price of Life 1977 Anemia 1978 Several Interviews on Personal Issues 1987 Monday 1997 Lilac 2002 Sur le chemin 2003 On The Way 2004 Les joues rouges 2005 Holy Fox