Tengiz Abuladze (January 31, 1924 in Kutaisi - March 6, 1994 in Tbilisi) was a Georgian film director. Abuladze studied theatre direction (1943-1946) at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia, and filmmaking at the VGIK (All-Union State Institute of Cinematography) in Moscow. He graduated VGIK in 1952 and in 1953 he joined Gruziafilm (Georgia Film Studios) as a director. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1980.
He is famous for his film trilogy: The Plea (The Supplication) (1968), The Tree of Desire (The Wishing Tree) (1977), and Repentance (1984, released 1987), which won him the Lenin Prize (1988) and the first Nika Award for Best Picture. Repentance won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival (1987).
