Tamta Gabrichidze’s documentary ’The Trader’ claims Sundance Film Festival award

Filmmaker Tamta Gabrichidze has been unveiled among the prize-winners of Sundance Film Festival after her documentary The Trader claimed the Short Film Jury Award at the renowned event on Tuesday.

The young director’s short, which was selected by cinema platform Netflix for global distribution earlier this month, had three screenings at Sundance starting last week.

It was announced among winning films of the Sundance Shorts Awards, while the festival is set to continue running through Sunday.

Winner of Short Film Jury Award - Non-Fiction: THE TRADER (SOVDAGARI), directed by Tamta Gabrichidze #sundancepic.twitter.com/ecbiAvUWJr

— SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) January 24, 2018

The Trader, also known as Sovdagari, follows its principal protagonist Gela, traversing the Georgian countryside looking to sell second-hand clothing and everyday items from the back of his minibus.

See the trailer for Tamta Gabrichidze’s short documentary ‘The Trader’

Gela does his trading in villages and towns where potatoes, not money, is the main currency of exchange.

Young and old peer into his truck, their eyes lighting up at the sight of modern conveniences like sponges and lint brushes. It’s a riddle that pits rural value against urban valuation, dirt versus gold”, said a preview of the short by Netflix.

Produced by Ilia Tavberidze, the documentary was picked for Sundance’s 2018 shorts program that highlighted women filmmakers.

The festival’s award is the second highlight for The Trader after the Best Short Documentary Award of the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where it premiered.

It is the fifth work for Gabrichidze, who has directed short and documentary films starting with Ms. Nature in 2009.