Russian film actor and screenwriter, teacher, and director.
Ivan Perestiani was born on April 13, 1870, in Taganrog, to Nikolai Perestiani, a collegiate assessor who worked at customs and the Taganrog branch of the state bank.
From 1886, he performed on the stage of the Taganrog Theater under the pseudonym "Ivan Nevedomov" and subsequently worked as an actor and director in several traveling provincial theaters. In 1916, already with 30 years of theater experience, he was invited to direct at the Moscow Aquarium Theater. That same year, he made his film debut with Yevgeny Bauer.
Soon, while continuing to act, Perestiani tried his hand as a screenwriter and director of silent films. In the summer of 1917, in Crimea and Sochi, he directed several films for the Biofilm studio, which were then finished on location in Moscow. He subsequently directed a dozen more films for private studios. He received an invitation from the Swedish Efa Film Studio, but, inspired by the revolutionary changes, he remained in Russia and began directing propaganda films.
In 1920, Perestiani left for Georgia, where he filmed the first Georgian film, "Arsen Jorjiashvili" ("The Assassination of General Gryaznov"), in which he also played a supporting role. He also taught at a training studio for young filmmakers. In 1923, he began work on the celebrated film "Red Little Devils," which became one of the most celebrated and frequently cited works of Soviet silent adventure cinema. Perestiani subsequently directed several sequels to this film—"The Crime of Princess Shirvanskaya," "The Punishment of Princess Shirvanskaya," "Illan Dilli," and "Savur-Mogila" (all 1926).
In 1928, Perestiani was invited to work as a director at the Odessa VUFKU film studio, and in 1929 he transferred to the Armenkino film studio. From 1932, he became an actor and teacher at the Tbilisi Theatre Institute and the Film Actors' School at the Tbilisi Film Studio, serving as a consultant to the scriptwriting department. During this period, he also starred in several films at the Yerevan and Tbilisi Film Studios.
In 1949, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the Georgian SSR.
Ivan Perestiani died on May 14, 1959, in Moscow.
