Aspiring Georgian director’s new short film screens at top French festival

A new film by young Georgian director George Sikharulidze has been selected to screen at the world's largest short film festival in France next spring.

Sikharulidze's 2016 work Red Apples will be part of the international competition selection at the 39th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, held from February 3-11, 2017.

The occasion is regarded as the world's top event for short films. It is the second largest film festival in France after the Cannes Film Festival.

See the trailer for George Sikharulidze's 2016 short film 'Red Apples' below:

Attracting over 100,000 visitors annually, next year's festival will feature hundreds of films from over 50 countries including 13 works by Georgian directors.

Sikharulidze's short will screen in the competition section alongside a range of top films including director Rati Tsiteladze's award-winning work Mother and Nino Shaburishvili's Georgian-French co-production Guest.

Released in May 2016, Red Apples premiered at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival in Canada in September this year.

Since it's world premiere, the film has been screened at Canada's Calgary International Film Festival and had its United States (US) premiere at the Austin Film Festival in Texas in October, where it won the Hiscox Audience Award.

Sikharulidze's film follows a young Armenian bride throughout events during and after her wedding. Photo from Red Apples film page/Facebook.

Since October Red Apples debuted at a number of cinema occasions in Europe including the 32nd International Short Film Festival Berlin in Germany's capital last month.

A co-production between Armenia, Georgia and the US, the film is written and produced by Ophelia Harutyunyan, with cinematography by Guka Goliadze.

The 15-minute short film follows a young Armenian bride during her wedding and the morning after, when a test of her 'worthiness' also turns out to be a test of her new marriage, said the Toronto International Film Festival website.

The short film features a cast of Armenian actors. Photo from Red Apples film page/Facebook.

Born in Tbilisi, filmmaker Sikharulidze moved to the US when he was 18 and studied at the New York University.

After graduating with a degree in Media Studies, he also studied his Master's in Film Direction at Columbia University.

Sikharulidze returned to Georgia in 2014 to direct his first short film The Fish that Drowned, which screened at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Film Festival in the US.

'Red Apples' is the second short film by US-educated Sikharulidze. Photo from Red Apples film page/Facebook.

The young Georgian filmmaker was awarded the Katharina Otto-Bernstein Grant to direct Red Apples, his second short film project.

Sikharulidze also worked as editor of the short film Submarine, which was selected for the 69th Cannes Film Festival.

The Georgian director has taught filmmaking at the Northwestern University and Columbia University, and was nominated for the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching.