Directed by Otar Iosseliani • 1966 • USSR/Georgia

Otar Iosseliani’s delightfully off-kilter debut feature set the tone for his career. Ramaz Giorgobiani plays Niko, a diffident young man who finds his principles tested while employed as a technician at a Tbilisi wine factory. His bosses are pressuring him to deliver a sub-standard product, while his comrades in the cellars are pressuring him to get drunk – and that’s without mentioning his love interest Marina (Marina Kartsivadze) and her wrathful ex-lover. Iosseliani’s trademarks are present from the off: mordant humour, bustling long takes, affection for the Georgian traditions of wine and song, and a knowing sympathy for the underdogs of Soviet society.

FALLING LEAVES • Გიორგობისთვე
Directed by Otar Iosseliani
Written by Amiran Chichinadze
Cinematography by Abesalom Maisuradze
Music by Natela Iosseliani
Starring: Ramaz Giorgobiani, Marina Kartsivadze, Gogi Kharabadze

In Georgian with English subtitles

Winner of the Georges Sadoul Prize at the Cannes Film Festival 1968