Mirza Davitaia

Biography

The founding president of Georgian International Films (GI-Films), Mirza Davitaia is a filmmaker who has written, directed, and produced both animated and live-action movies since1993. In 2016, Mirza created the graphic novel "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin" (AKA Prince of India). The book was published by major Georgian publisher "Artanuji" and was nominated by Georgian Public Broadcaster as the Best Literary Work of 2016 for "The Best of the Year Award". In 2022 Mirza produced and directed the feature-length animated movie based on his graphic novel. In previous years, Mirza has produced and co-written several live-action movies, including "The Narrow Bridge" in 2021, "The Last Fortress" in 2020, and "Anton" in 2019 which was directed by the Oscar and the Golden Globe-nominated director, Zaza Urushadze. The film was released internationally in 2020 and was considered for Academy Award's best picture category in 2021. In 2010, Mirza produced an action thriller "5 Days of War" stared by Andy Garcia, Rupert Friend, Val Kilmer, and other A-list Hollywood actors. The film was released in theaters internationally by major distributors such as "Anchor Bay" in North America and "eOne" in Great Britain, and other European countries. In 2013, he co-produced a comedy "Jacky in Women's Kingdom", stared by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Michel Hazanavicius. The film was theatrically released in France and other francophone countries by the distribution company Pathe. The film was also released worldwide on Blue Ray and VOD and is available on most digital platforms. Mirza Davitaia was born and raised in Georgia, where In the years of 2004 to 2012, he served as a member of Parliament, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, Deputy Minister of Culture and Monument Protection, as well as the State Minister of Diaspora Issues. From 1992 to 2000 Mirza studied animation, illustration, graphic design, and fine art at Academies of fine art in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Nuremberg, Germany.