Georgian films presented at Venice International Festival

Georgia will present two films at this year’s 71st Venice International Film Festival.

The President, a Georgian-French-British-German joint venture, directed by the master of Iranian cinema Mohsen Makhmalbaf, with Georgian actors Misha Gomiashvili and Dachi Orvelashvili, will be the opening film of the Orizzonti section of the Festival, which is dedicated to showcasing new trends in world cinema.

The film will be one of the first to be screened at the Venice Film Festival, which is set to officially open later this evening.

The President is the story of a dictator of an imaginary country in the Caucasus who is forced to escape following a coup, and begins his journey discovering his country in the company of his five-year-old grandson. The two travel across the lands that the President once governed. Now, disguised as a street musician to avoid being recognized, the former dictator comes into contact with his people, which he comes to know from a different point of view.

The Orizzonti section will also host 2014 Georgian film Line of Credit by Salome (Nutsa) Aleqsi-Meskhishvili with Nino Kasradze as the main actress.

The film’s protagonist Nino is a 40-year-old woman who used to live a comfortable life in the Soviet Union. But in modern Georgia she is in the difficult position of having to adapt to many changes. Nino is granted a large loan with high interest and little by little she becomes immersed in debt. There comes a point where she feels trapped in a vicious circle and cannot see the way out.

The 71st Venice International Film Festival will close on September 6.