Boston Museum of Visual Arts to celebrate Georgia’s Independence Day with film screenings

Over five days of film screenings, Boston’s Museum of Visual Arts will introduce contemporary Georgian cinema to viewers on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day celebrations later this month.

A selection of films produced over the last five years will be brought to the venue under the series New Wave Now: Georgia’s Independent Voice.

The roster of screenings will include Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’ award-winning feature My Happy Family, Academy Awards-nominated director Zaza Urushadze’s recent work The Confession and acclaimed filmmaker George Ovashvili’s biopic Khibula about Georgia’s first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia.

The programme also features American director Emily Railsback’s documentary Our Blood Is Wine, centred around Georgia’s long-running and rich winemaking culture, and The Chair, a satirical feature from prized Soviet- and Georgian cinema figure Eldar Shengelaia.

Organisers said their film selection, set to mark Georgia’s Independence Day on May 26, reflected the turbulent and independent history of both Georgia’s film scene and the country itself.

[Under the Soviet rule] Georgian cinema maintained a distinct and rich identity within the USSR, technically and aesthetically experimental and also willing to critique power,” a preview for the screenings said.

Hosts of the screening event said the films "both lovingly and unflinchingly explore Georgia’s society, landscape, history, and power structures".

Georgia's Independent Voice will be open for big screen viewers at the Boston museum between May 23–26.