Film rolls by acclaimed late director Goderdzi Chokheli found after 25 years

Georgian film professionals have discovered unfinished material of author, screenwriter and film director Goderdzi Chokheli’s 1993 project Wolf in vaults of the Georgian Film studio in Tbilisi.

Revealed on Monday, the discovery is centred around film rolls of negatives that were stored in archives of the studio but not accounted for.

Found by studio professional Revaz Makhatadze, the material was later also seen by late filmmaker’s son Luka Chokheli, who visited the archive.

Storage box for one of the rolls of the material, identified as the film 'Wolf' by Chokheli. Photo: Revaz Makhatadze.

The studio said the material was preserved undamaged and was set to be studied by professionals at the venue.

The rolls were made during filming of Wolf in 1993, a period of political and economic instability in Georgia which meant a lack of proper accounting for and preservation of cinema heritage in the country.

Experts from the studio also said the rolls could be digitised after they are studied with the goal of revealing how much of the intended film the unfinished material represents.

Born in 1954, Chokheli graduated from Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgia State University.

The 1954-born filmmaker and author went on to claim both festival awards and state prizes. Photo: translationlab.ge.

Directing a dozen films from 1976-2003, he was recognised for his work with the principal award at the 1982 Oberhausen International Short Film Festival for Easter.

He received other prizes from Georgian and foreign film festivals and was also distinguished with the State Prize of Georgia in 1991.

Working at the Georgian Film studio during the Soviet era, Chokheli was also member of both the Union of Cinematographers and the Union of Writers of Georgia.

Chokheli died in Tbilisi in 2007, at the age of 53.