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{{short description|Soviet-Georgian film director and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Eldar Shengelaya 2004.jpg
| name = Eldar Shengelaia
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|1|26|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgian SSR]], Soviet Union (now [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]])
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Film director<br>Screenwriter
| yearsactive = 1957-2022
}}

'''Eldar Shengelaia''' ({{lang-ka|ელდარ შენგელაია}}; {{langx|ru|Эльда́р Никола́евич Шенгела́я}}; born 26 January 1933) is a Georgian and Soviet [[film director]] and [[screenwriter]] who directed ten films between 1957 and 1996.<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman / Littlefield|year=2016|place=US|isbn=978-1442268425|pages=662–663}}</ref> From 1990 to 2004, he was a member of the [[Parliament of Georgia]]. He has been awarded the titles of the [[People's Artist of the USSR|People's Artist]] of Georgia (1979) and of the Soviet Union (1988). He has been a chairman of the Film-makers' Union of Georgia since 1976. Since 2008, he has been chairman of the [[State Council of Heraldry]] at the Parliament of Georgia.

==Cinema career==
Eldar Shengelia was born in [[Tbilisi]], the capital of then-[[Georgian SSR|Soviet Georgia]] into the family of the film director [[Nikoloz Shengelaia]] and actress [[Nato Vachnadze]]. His brother, [[Giorgi Shengelaia]] is also a film director.<ref name="iww">"Shengelaia, Eldar", in: Sleeman, Elizabeth (2004), ''The International Who's Who 2004'', p. 1537. Taylor / Francis Group, Europa Publications, {{ISBN|1-85743-217-7}}</ref>

He graduated from the [[Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography|All-Union State Institute of Cinematography]] (VGIK) in [[Moscow]] in 1958 and then worked for the studio [[Mosfilm]]. In 1960, he became a director at the Tbilisi-based [[Gruziya-film]] studio. In 1969, Shengelaia gained nationwide acclaim with the satyrical [[tragicomedy]] ''Arachveulebrivi gamopena'' ("An Unusual Exhibition") socio-political allusions of which caused discontent in the official Soviet cinema establishment. Since then, Shengelaia has retained a reputation of a highly individual filmmaker.<ref>Horton, Andrew (1993), ''Inside Soviet Film Satire: Laughter with a Lash'', pp. 105-117. [[Cambridge University Press]], {{ISBN|0-521-43016-X}}</ref>

Shengelaia produced another high-profile tragicomedy about inept bureaucracy ''Tsisperi mtebi anu daujerebeli ambavi'' ("Blue Mountains, or Unbelievable Story"), one of the best achievements in the Soviet "social fiction" genre.<ref>Lawton, Anna M. (1992), ''Kinoglasnost'', p. 40. CUP Archive, {{ISBN|0-521-38814-7}}</ref> It won the [[All-Union Film Festival]] Prize in 1984 and the [[USSR State Prize]] in 1985. After a major success in the 1980s, Eldar Shengelaia distanced himself from the cinema and became involved in the Georgian independence movement which gained a momentum in 1989. In the 1990s, Shengelaia briefly returned to the cinema and produced two films which were positively received by critics but did not attract a broader public attention.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/72/1007263/1007263a1.htm Шенгелая, Эльдар Николаевич (Shengelaia, Eldar Nikolayevich)]. ''Entsiklopediya Krugosvet''. Retrieved on 3 May 2009</ref>

In 1985 he was a member of the jury at the [[14th Moscow International Film Festival]].<ref name="Moscow1985">{{cite web|url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1985 |title=14th Moscow International Film Festival (1985) |access-date=8 February 2013 |work=MIFF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316084353/http://moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1985 |archive-date=16 March 2013 }}</ref> In 1992 he was a member of the jury at the [[42nd Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1992/04_jury_1992/04_Jury_1992.html |title=Berlinale: 1992 Juries |access-date=27 March 2011 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>

==Political career==
From 1980 to 1985 and from 1989 to 1990, Shengelaia, then a [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist party]] member, was elected to the Georgian SSR Supreme Soviet and, from 1989 to 1991, to the [[Congress of Soviets|Congress of the People’s Deputies of the USSR]]. He was a member of the [[Anatoly Sobchak|Sobchak commission]], investigating into the Soviet military [[April 9 tragedy|crackdown]] on pro-independence rally in Tbilisi, for which he produced a resonant documentary film. In July 1989, Shengelaia became a founding member of the [[People’s Front of Georgia]], a pro-independence party, and emerged as a leader of its moderate wing. In October 1990, he was elected to the [[Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia|Supreme Council of Georgia]] in the first multi-party elections in Soviet Georgia and was a signatory to the Act of Independence of Georgia in April 1991. Afterwards, he was in opposition to the [[Zviad Gamsakhurdia]] government following whose overthrow in a military coup in January 1992, Shengelaia joined the [[Eduard Shevardnadze]]-led [[State Council of Georgia]]. In 1992, he became a member of parliament where he held a post of vice-speaker since 1995. He allied, in May 1993, with the pro-Shevardnadze civil movement Unity and Prosperity founded by several high-profile intellectuals.<ref name="Wheatley">Wheatley, Jonathan (2005), Georgia from National Awakening to Rose Revolution, pp. 45, 52, 85. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., {{ISBN|0-7546-4503-7}}</ref>

In 1994, Shengelaia became a founding member of the [[Union of Citizens of Georgia]] chaired by Shevardnadze and joined its "reformist" faction led by [[Zurab Zhvania]] whom he joined in opposition to Shevardnadze in 2002. In response, Shevradnadze’s loyal members of parliament tried, unsuccessfully, to have Shengelaia removed from the vice-speaker’s position in May 2002.<ref>[http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=1876&search=shengelaia Parliament Fails to Dismiss Zhvania's Supporter Vice-Speaker]. [[Civil Georgia]]. 12 May 2002</ref> In 2003, he supported the [[Rose Revolution]] which ousted Shevardnadze and was reelected to the Parliament of Georgia in 2004 on the [[United National Movement (Georgia)|National Movement-Democrats]] alliance ticket. Later that year, he retired from active politics. In 2008, he was appointed a chairman of the [[State Council of Heraldry]].<ref>[http://heraldika.ge/index.php?m=784&newsid=31 Structure of the Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817195757/http://heraldika.ge/index.php?m=784&newsid=31 |date=17 August 2011 }}. ''State Council of Heraldry''. Accessed 18 March 2011</ref>

On 12 April 2009, Shengelaia was awarded [[St. George's Order of Victory]], one of the highest [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Georgia|civic awards of Georgia]], for "having participating in the investigation of and having shown to the world the truth" about 9 April 1989 events in Tbilisi.<ref>"President awards Eldar Shengelaia St. George's Order". ''Interpressnews''. 12 April 2009</ref>

==Filmography==
* ''[[Well (Georgian film)|Well]]'' (2020)
* ''[[A Chair (film)|A Chair]]'' (2016)
* ''[[Dog Rose (film)|Dog Rose]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Express Information]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Blue Mountains (1984 film)|Blue Mountains, or Unbelievable Story]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Samanishvili's Stepmother]]'' (1977)
* ''[[The Eccentrics]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Extraordinary Exhibition]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Miqela]]'' (1965)
* ''[[The White Caravan]]'' (1963)
* ''[[A Snow Fairy Tale]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Legend of the Ice Heart]]'' (1957)

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{imdb name|0791542}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shengelaia, Eldar}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Film people from Tbilisi]]
[[Category:Mingrelians]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Georgia (Soviet Union) politicians]]
[[Category:United National Movement (Georgia) politicians]]
[[Category:Film directors from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Soviet film directors]]
[[Category:Soviet screenwriters]]
[[Category:Soviet male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Male screenwriters from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:People's Artists of Georgia]]
[[Category:People's Artists of the USSR]]
[[Category:Recipients of the USSR State Prize]]
[[Category:Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of St. George's Order of Victory]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence]]

Eldar Shengelaia - Revision history

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