Vakhtang Evgenievich Mikeladze gained his popularity by his successes in creating documentaries, the theme of which were representatives of the criminal world in Russia. His life was not calm and smooth. He experienced all the hardships. V. Mikeladze is well aware of the meaning of the words “freedom”, since he himself was deprived of it, and “foreign land”, since he himself was expelled from his native places. He knows the price of the concept of "patriotism."
Significant facts of the director’s biography
Vakhtang Mikeladze was born on June 16, 1937 in Moscow. His grandfather and grandmother, well-known politicians, were shot in the year the grandson was born. After that, the whole Vakhtang family (including him) was sent to Kazakhstan.
Vakhtang's father, Yevgeny Mikeladze, served as chief conductor at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater. Thanks to his talent, D. Shostakovich was noted as the pride of the conducting school. He also helped Vakhtang enter VGIK on the course of R. L. Carmen. The mother of the future director, Ketevan Malievna, spent about nineteen years in Siberia as a member of the family of "enemies of the people." Tengiz Abuladze’s film “Repentance” was shot based on the life of Vakhtang’s parents and attracted great interest from moviegoers around the world.
The beginning of the director’s career
After graduating from VGIK in 1965, the future cinema worker received the specialty of a documentary film director. The graduation project of Vakhtang Mikeladze was presented by the film "Omalo" and recognized as anti-Soviet, which led to a suspension from viewing. Despite the difficulties of showing the picture, R. L. Carmen “recaptured” the right to view it, after which she immediately received the Lenin Komsomol Prize.
1988 was a significant year for the director. Vakhtang Mikeladze opened his studio under the name Ecofilm in Moscow and headed it as an artistic director.
First prizes
1993 brought even greater fame to the director after the release of his film "Gray Flowers", which tells about children's crimes. This film earned special appreciation, and Vakhtang was awarded the XXVI Leipzig Film Festival Prize.
Since 1995, Vakhtang Mikeladze has been actively cooperating with the RTS television company. He also takes part in the telecast of the First Channel "Man and the Law." Mikeladze began filming "Documentary Detective", which tells about criminal activity in Russia, in 1997. It was a whole cycle of documentary films, for which the director was awarded the FSB Prize.
The DTV television channel on May 6, 2007 began showing the documentary cycle Spies and Traitors, consisting of thirty-nine episodes. It reflected the roles of all the famous CIA and KGB spies. The 39-series cycle of documentaries “Sentenced for Life” was first released in 2008. It presented facts from the life of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. The continuation of the documentary series falls on 2010.
V.E. Mikeladze proved himself not only as a director, but also as a talented screenwriter, as evidenced by such wonderful paintings as “The Defense of Sevastopol”, “Golden Star No. 11472”, “Forgotten War”, “Ascent to Olympus” .
Conclusion
All films of Vakhtang Mikeladze shown on Channel One raised his reputation high. Note that many of the paintings were also broadcast on other television channels in Russia. All the documentaries that Vakhtang Mikeladze shot relate to works that deserve special attention and respect from the audience, which is expressed in dozens of first prizes and awards. The Russian and Georgian Honored Artist, director V.E. Mikeladze, has rightfully earned and deserves high rewards, as he is a person with great moral values. He is critical of his talent and tries to realize it as competently as possible.