Rati Tsiteladze’s latest film ’Prisoner of Society’ earns honours at Finnish festival
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The latest work by film director Rati Tsiteladze has received dual recognition by European cinema experts after Prisoner of Society was named Best Documentary of the Tampere Film Festival and nominated for a European Film Academy prize last weekend.
Tsiteladze’s short was unveiled among winners of the international competition of the event promoted as "one of the most important short film festivals in the world” and held in Finland.
The work, delving into social and family rejection experienced by a transgender person, premiered at the event where about 500 films were screened starting March 7.
The prize for the best documentary in the International Competition goes to Sociumis Patimari - Prisoner of Society by Rati Tsitelade #tamperefilmfestival#tamperefilmfestival2018winners
— TampereFilmFestival (@TampereFilmFest) March 11, 2018
The Georgian filmmaker reacted to the award on Sunday by revealing the production of the work had been done "without a budget" and described the award and nomination to his social media followers as "indescribable joy".
Prisoner of Society is an intimate journey into the world and mind of a young transgender woman trapped between personal desire for freedom and traditional expectations of her parents [...]”, said a summary of the short for the Tampere event.
The profile of the film for the festival also said the documentary was centred around the family of the protagonist, with "hidden fears, hopes and motives” of its members.
A co-production effort between Georgia and Latvia, the film was co-written by Tsiteladze with screenwriter Nino Varsimashvili.
Its premiere and successful debut marks the latest collaboration between the two professionals who also worked on the 2016 title Mother and are involved in the work-in-progress project The Empty House.
Tsiteladze co-produced his latest work with Swedish producer Thom Palmen, with the Tbilisi-based ArtWay Film studio working on production.
Along with the Best Documentary award, Prisoner of Society was also selected by the festival and the European Film Academy to be nominated for the European Short Film prize at the European Film Awards later this year.
It will be considered for the recognition at the awards ceremony in Seville, Spain in December, which hands out prizes for some of the best European releases annually.
The occasion will be broadcast live on the European Film Awards website.
One of Europe’s prominent short film festivals, set to open in the Finnish town of Tampere next week, will premiere director Rati Tsiteladze’s new work that deals with personal freedom clashing with cultural prejudices.
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Three Georgian cinema professionals will be among talents from around the world hand-picked for this year’s Berlinale Talents summit during the Berlinale Film Festival next month.
Filmmaker Rati Tsiteladze’s latest project The Empty House was distinguished at Switzerland’s major Locarno Film Festival with a prize supporting the ongoing development of the feature.
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A work-in progress film project by two Georgian directors has been shortlisted by the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), an international platform for supporting film production
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Georgian filmmakers Giorgi Tavartkiladze and Rati Tsiteladze will bring their recent short works to this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival, which is scheduled to open later this month.
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Film director Rati Tsiteladze is in active development with his latest work, a documentary dealing with a difficult personal and societal subject that earned a pitching prize from theindustry platform of Switzerland's Visions du Réel festival this week.