Retrospective of Georgian film opens at Goethe- Institut Washington

Moviegoers across the United States (US) are being given the unique opportunity to reflect on the rich history of Georgian cinema.

The project called Discovering Georgian Cinema, change its destination from Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive to Goethe- Institut Washington, DC.

The Goethe-Institut Washington will present nine Georgian films from January 12 to February 2 of the next year.

The first and last screenings are by the director brothers Eldar and Giorgi Shengelaia, famous in Georgia and Russia for their films made in the 1960s and 1980s. These classics will frame several modern films made by directors who have been influenced by and connected to the German culture.

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive has joined forces with the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) Department of Film to present the largest-ever retrospective of Georgian cinema in the US. The project is called Discovering Georgian Cinema.

Throughout the turbulent history of the last century, Georgian cinema has been an important wellspring for national identity, a celebration of the spirit, resilience, and humor of the Georgian people. These filmmakers, working across a broad range of styles and thematic concerns, have created everything from anti-bureaucratic satires of the Soviet system, to philosophical studies rooted in a humanist tradition, to lyrical, poetic depictions of the region’s spectacular landscape. Goethe- Institute Washington website noted.

Georgia’s Embassy in United State will provide wine tasting following the screening of Blue Mountains to highlight the exclusive exhibition Photographs from Tbilisi in 1991 by German photographer Barbara Klemm.

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.