Iosseliani received a lifetime achievement honor – the CineMerit Award [de] at the Munich International Film Festival in 2011 for his career accomplishments.

Disillusioned with the creative suppression of filmmakers in his native country, and following Pastorali's success at the 1982 Berlin Film Festival, he eventually left the Soviet Union, settling in France in 1982.

[6] Following Pastorale's success at the 1982 Berlin Film Festival, the director made Les Favoris de la Lune (Favourites of the Moon) in 1984.

[16] In 2011 Otar Iosseliani received a lifetime achievement honor – the CineMerit Award [de] at the Munich International Film Festival.

[17][18] In 2023, in a retrospective review of his long career, with his films spanning seven decades, Ronald Bergan of The Guardian stated: "His self-described 'abstract comedies' are understated and incisive explorations of human absurdity, always faithful to his idiosyncratic vision, and discarding any kind of cohesive narrative."

His use of sound and silence, and his complex movements of people, animals and objects made him the true heir to Jean Renoir, Jacques Tati and Luis Buñuel.