Returning to Tbilisi with his fellow Georgian Revaz Chkheidze, Abuladze joined the Gruziafilm studios and together they began their career making documentary films about their country's folklore. In 1955 they made their first non-documentary film, "Magdana's Donkey", which won the Best Short Film award at Cannes in 1956. Abuladze's next work was the feature-length "Other People's Children" (1958), a psychological portrait of life in Tbilisi. This was followed by "Me, Grandma, Iliko and Ilarion" (1962), a tragicomedy of morals in a mountain village, and the lyrical comedy "A Necklace for My Beloved" (1973).