London week of culture celebrates Georgia’s independence

A week-long program of talks on contemporary Georgian culture and a weekend of film screenings by Georgian directors will mark the 25th anniversary of the country's independence in London, the United Kingdom this week.

In the program Where Europe Meets Asia: Georgia25, British and Russian hosts will be joined by four leading Georgian writers and filmmakers to discuss contemporary Georgian arts over four days, starting today.

The cultural event will see hosts share their impressions on fictional, historic pieces of Georgian literature about Georgia’s path to independence, which was regained in the 1990s and other topics.

Georgian writer Aka Morchilade will speak at the Georgia25 in London cultural event. Photo from the Georgian National Book Centre.

The five events at Asia House and Europe House in England's capital will involve writers Boris Akunin, Dato Turashvili, Lasha Bugadze, Aka Morchiladze and Zurab Karumidze.

As a preview to the week, artistic director of the Georgia25 program Maya Jaggi offered her insights on the rebirth of filmmaking in Georgia in her recent piece for global business newspaper Financial Times.

The discussions will run until April 14 and be followed by two days of film screenings of feature-length, short and documentary works by Georgian filmmakers at Regent Street Cinema in London.

The screenings will conclude the program on April 17.

Asia House, one of the three locations hosting the Georgia25 program, announced one of the events to their social network followers on April 8:

Georgia On The Edge | A double bill of Georgia’s past through writers’ eyes - https://t.co/RYycf0rdRi#LBSW16@asiahouseuk

— LDN Book&Screen Week (@LBandSW) 8 April 2016

The "weekend of new and classic films" will include Tutberidze's celebrated film Trip to Karabakh - a 2005 milestone in the resurgence of Georgian cinema, and his award-winning 2015 feature work Moira.

The two days of screening will also invite audience for viewing Soviet Georgian classics including a trilogy by director Tengiz Abuladze and 1996 work Brigands Chapter VII by France-based Georgian filmmaker Otar Iosseliani.

The program Where Europe Meets Asia: Georgia25 was organised by the Georgian National Book Centre to mark 25 years since the restoration of Georgia's independence, which was celebrated this month.

Details and the full schedule of events for the program Where Europe Meets Asia: Georgia25 can be found here.