His first film, "Magdana's Donkey" (1956), which he directed with Rezo Chkheidze, won the "Best Fiction Short" award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. He is most famous for his film trilogy: "The Plea" ("The Supplication") (1968), "The Wishing Tree" (1977), and "Repentance" (1984, released 1987), which won him the Lenin Prize (1988) and the first Nika Award for Best Picture. "Repentance" won the Special Jury Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. In 1987 he was a member of the jury at the 15th Moscow International Film Festival.