Shengelaia was a director, a screenwriter and a producer with a vision that influenced younger filmmakers and had a profound impact on Georgian culture.

Born in 1933 to Georgian film actress Nato Vachnadze and film director Nikoloz Shenghelaia, he studied film directing at the State Cinema Institute of the Union in Moscow, and worked for Mosfilm from 1957 to 1960.

He gained recognition with the tragicomedy Unusual Exhibition (1968), followed in 1973 by Eccentrics, Samanishvili’s Stepmother (1997) and Blue Mountains, or An Unbelievable Story (1998) among others.

He was a member of the Parliament of Georgia from 1990 to 2004. He was awarded the titles of the People’s Artist of Georgia in 1979 and of the Soviet Union in 1988.