North America’s major Palm Springs Short Film Fest to screen ‘Bad People’

Director Giorgi Tavartkiladze’s award-winning short Bad People, honoured earlier this spring in London, will be part of the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, a major North American event for short-form cinema.

With over 20,000 visitors and more than 300 films screened, the Festival will open its doors between June 18-24 with dozens of awards but a competitive selection.

Bad People, with its protagonist in a 1990s civil war-ravaged Georgian capital Tbilisi, has been programmed for the Desperate Measures section of the Festival, reflecting the circumstances facing Gia, who is looking for medicine for his son as he navigates frontlines between the two warring factions in the city.

While on his quest, in the mirror representation of the real-life tumultuous events in Georgia of the time, the protagonist meets his former schoolmate, now fighting for the opposing side of the armed struggle.

A cast of Georgian actors is involved in the short produced at Tbilisi-based 20 Steps Productions.      Tavartkiladze and Vladimer Katcharava are the two screenwriters.

Bad People was distinguished with the Best International Drama Award of the Discover Film Awards in April, which followed the Best Action Short Award at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival in February.

The drama also screened at March’s Hong Kong International Film Festival.