Esakia Leo

Leo Esakia (b. February 27, 1899, Senaki, Kutaisi – d. July 1, 1969, Tbilisi) was a film director and People's Artist of Georgia (1966). From 1927, he worked in Georgian Film Studio as a screenwriter, and from 1928 – as a director. With innovative films – Holtze (1928), Americanka (American Woman) (1930), he expressed a kind of protest against ethnographic-orientalist cinematography, and strove to establish a realistic-artistic method. In 1932, he made the first Georgian sound film Shakiri, then the comedy Prtosani Mghebavi (The Winged Painter) (1936) and films of various genres: Gaghmeli Kalishvili (The Girl from the Other Shore) (1940), Bashi-Achuki based on A. Tsereteli's work (1956), Nino (1959), Glakhis Naambobi (Beggar's Tale) (1961; based on I. Chavchavadze's work), Abesalom and Etheri (1966; based on Z. Paliashvili’s opera of the same name) and etc. Esakia was mainly the author or co-author of the scripts for his films. During various years he worked as the chairman of the Georgian Radio Committee, the director of a film studio and others. He received state awards.

 

A. Gventsadze