Georgia-born film director and screenwriter Otar Iosseliani has died in France, close friend Yury Rost reported on December 17. Born in Tbilisi, Iosseliani, 89, won awards for his films at international film festivals in Cannes and Berlin. He graduated in 1965 from the Moscow State Cinematography Institute and had lived in France since the 1980s. The director often criticized Russian authorities, in particular in connection with wars in Chechnya and against Georgia in 2008. In 2022, the director strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "murderer" and comparing him to Adolf Hitler. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.