CineDOC-Tbilisi festival shows world-class documentaries

Some of the most fascinating documentary films from across the world will screen at this year's CineDOC-Tbilisi Documentary Film Festival, being held in Georgia's capital later this month.

From October 21-25, filmmakers, cinema experts and enthusiasts will get together in Tbilisi to view new documentary works, discuss matters of film and society and present their in-progress cinema projects at the fourth annual event.

To highlight the diversity of submissions, the 43 films selected for this year's CineDOC Festival will screen in seven categories.

A scene from director Jan Gassmann's documentary 'Europe, She Loves'. Photo from www.huckmagazine.com.

The seven sections are:

• International Competition, featuring films on varying subject from across the world;
• Focus Caucasus, with an emphasis on the region;
• CivilDOC, a section on social topics;
• CineDOC Young, with screenings for children and teenagers;
• Guest Country: Poland, shining light on productions from the Eastern European state;
• German Dox, a section of five films with screenings supported by the Goethe Institute in Georgia;
• French Program, supported by the French Institute in Georgia.

Seven documentaries from Georgia will feature in the overall program of CineDOC 2016, including award-winning features When the Earth Seems to Be Light and The Dazzling Light of Sunset as well as the new work by established local director Toma Chagelishvili I Didn't Cross the Border, the Border Crossed Me.

Director Fredrik Gertten's film 'Bikes vs Cars' will screen at the CineDOC-Tbilisi festival:

These and other works will be screened at Amirani and Rustaveli cinemas as well as the Frontline Club, Goethe Institute and Caucasian House.

The jury panel, tasked to review submitted films in the International Competition, Focus Caucasus and CivilDOC sections, will involve cinema experts from countries including Hungary, the Netherlands, France and Greece.

A novel addition to this year’s festival will see the freshly launched CivilDOC section present films about human rights and social issues. These topics will also be the subject of a discussion within the Civil Pitch session involving Georgian NGOs and filmmakers.

Other talks will see filmmakers who are currently working on documentary projects present pitching sessions for their work, while three other gatherings will focus on specific themes in filmmaking:

• A master class on How to Choose Your Hero will see Israeli filmmaker Barak Heymann talk to future filmmakers about selecting a protagonist for their plot;
• Alex Bakker, scriptwriter for the 2016 documentary Transit Havana will lead a presentation and discussion on global transgender history;
• A workshop for women in cinema will be led by Swedish filmmakers Karin Ekberg and Johanna Bernhardson and involve Georgia's Sakdoc Film Studio. The event aimed to "empower female filmmakers in the beginning of their career" and "raise awareness of gender equality behind and in front of the camera".

See the trailer for 'When the Earth Seems to Be Light ' below:

Along with the introduction of the CivilDOC section, another first-ever for the festival will seek to link music and documentary cinema by inviting visitors to an "extraordinary concert and festival party" at Backstage76 in Tbilisi's Vake Park.

A line-up of Georgian musical artists, including some of the protagonists seen in documentaries screened at the festival, will perform at the all-genre concert including The Sky Diving Penguins, N-ice and Luna999.

Established in 2013, CineDOC is the first film festival in Georgia to be supported by the Creative Europe program of the European Union and is promoted as the only international documentary film festival in the Caucasus region.

Its organisers say the event shows "films with a unique directing vision, an original visual style, sympathetic protagonists and powerful stories".

In addition to the annual festival days in Tbilisi, the festival also travels to Georgia's regions to screen films within the CineDOC-on-Tour project.

See the full program of films and events for the 2016 CineDOC-Tbilisi Festival here.