US museum exhibits Georgia’s film history

A leading American museum is preparing to host the largest-ever retrospective exhibition of Georgian cinema in the United States (US).

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive have joined forces with the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) Film Department to present the photographic and film exhibition.

The exhibition, hosted at the Museum of Modern Art, was named ‘Discovering Georgian Cinema’ and will contain two parts. The first part - A Family Affair – will be exhibited from September 23 to October 16 and will focus on one aspect of Georgian cinema: the family relationships that weave through its cinematic production from the 1920s to the present, where several third-generation filmmakers are still active.

The second part of the exhibition - Blue Mountains and Beyond – will run from November 22 until December 21, 2014.

Organisers said the exhibition will bring together 45 programs using photographs sourced from all over Europe, the US, Georgia and Russia, which tell the history of Georgian film production and show its development and achievements from 1907 to 2014.

Throughout the turbulent history of the last century, Georgian cinema has been an important part of Georgia’s national identity, organisers said. Georgian film was also recognised as a celebration of spirit, resilience, and embodied the humour of the Georgian people.

The Discovering Georgian Cinema exhibition was a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and The Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition was organized by Susan Oxtoby, Senior Film Curator, BAM/PFA, and Jytte Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, MoMA.

Film notes used in the exhibition were adapted from research and writing by the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.