Mariam Khatchvani’s new film project selected for Cannes residency

Award-winning filmmaker Mariam Khatchvani is among six directors from around the world who will be developing their new projects in a Cannes Film Festival residency in Paris.

Khatchvani will work on her new feature Nene in the Cinefondation Residence program of the festival starting in March and into the summer.

She will write the script for the film and learn French in the capital alongside the other selected filmmakers: Cesar Acevedo and Santiago Lozano from Colombia, Chia-Hsin Liu from Taiwan, Min Bahadur Bham from Nepal and Sara Kern from Slovenia.

The project for Nene is also benefiting from the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) development grant it received last year, after being unveiled among four projects from 105 initial submissions.

The feature is centred around the subject of the arbitrary use of power by law enforcement agencies and their use of force against citizens.

Based on a true story, the project is produced by Vladimer Katcharava, who also worked with Khatchvani on their award-winning feature Dede.

Awarded the UNESCO Cultural Diversity Award at the APSA ceremony last November, Dede was also recognised with the Cannes Film Meetings Grand Prix.

Khatchvani and Katcharava also claimed the Special Jury Prize for the East of the West competition section at the 2017 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for their feature.