Filmmaker Levan Koguashvili awarded for feature project 'Brighton 4' at Jerusalem production lab

Brighton 4, the in-production feature by Georgian filmmaker Levan Koguashvili, will benefit from support of the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film Lab after the project claimed two of the platform this week.

The latest work by the director of goEast film festival prize-winning Blind Dates was featured in the Work in Progress section of the lab, where it claimed the Jury Prize and the ARP Selection Award.

The two 25,000 USD money prizes mean the project's budget will benefit from additional funding following grants from the Georgian and Bulgarian national film centres.

The co-production is filmed in locations in Georgia, Bulgaria and New York, with the script for the film following a Georgian father to Brooklyn, New York, where he seeks to free his son out of a gambling debt.

A promotional poster for 'Brighton 4'. The film follows a Georgian man looking to help his son out of a gambling debt in Brooklyn. Photo: IMDB.

In Brooklyn the wrestler meets people who help him and people who ignore him, therefore Brighton 4 will be a mix of drama and comedy," - Levan Koguashvili

Film New Europe said the Georgian director employed "non-pro actors in the cast of the film", which it called a look "at the underbelly of life in the immigrant community in Brighton Beach".

Koguashvili is best known for Blind Dates, his work that was nominated for the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, among over a dozen wins and nominations around the world.

Launched in 2001, the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film Lab aims to support feature-length projects "by some of the world’s most promising young talents".

At its establishment the platform became the third film lab of the kind internationally, joining the Sundance Institute and the Torino Film Lab.