Tbilisi museum hosts Latin American, Caribbean film screenings

Cinema enthusiasts in Georgia’s capital are invited to a two-day festival of films from Latin America and the Caribbean launching at the Georgian National Museum (GNM) this Saturday.

Audiences will be hosted for screenings of films from 10 countries of the region, with the program including the 2015 feature Dancing With Margot by director Arturo Santana and Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra’s 2009 work The Wind Journeys.

The fictionalised plot in Santana’s film follows an art theft investigation in the 1950’s Cuban capital Havana. The inquiry uncovers the story behind the house of a wealthy widow from which a painting had been stolen.

The 2009 feature by Guerra follows a musician on a quest to the Colombian Caribbean to recover a musical instrument that has been cursed by the Devil, according to local legends.

The Colombian director’s work was screened as part of the official selection of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

The program for the festival will open with Argentinian writer and director Sebastian Borensztein’s 2011 comedy Chinese Take-Away, the highest grossing film among non-United States productions in Argentina upon its release.

Following an Argentinian store owner and a Chinese visitor to the country, the film presents the two protagonists’ efforts in sharing their experiences without the knowledge of each other’s language.

A scene from the feature film 'Dancing With Margot'. Photo: www.lajiribilla.cu.

Organised to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Argentina, the Tbilisi festival will be hosted at the auditorium of the GNM — a network of state museum venues across the country. 

Last month, the GNM hosted a four-day screening of documentary and fiction films about Colombia within its week-long celebration of the country’s culture and history.

Featuring free admission for the public, the Latin American and Caribbean Film Festival will also specifically host local students of Spanish language and cinema art. The films selected for the Tbilisi festival will screen in original language with English subtitles.

The festival will conclude on April 30.