'And Then We Danced' nominated for European University Film Award
From left: director Levan Akin, actors Levan Gelbakhiani and Bachi Valishvili at the Directors' Fortnight festival in Cannes, where the feature premiered earlier this year. Photo: Directors' Fortnight.
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Filmmaker Levan Akin's feature And Then We Danced has been nominated for the European University Film Award, a prize by university students throughout Europe.
The recently released film by the Swedish director with Georgian roots is one of five works selected for this year's nomination, with ultimate winner to be announced at the end of the year.
The feature will vie for the honour with Teona Stugar Mitevska's God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija, Piranhas by Claudio Giovannesi, Portrait of a Lady on Fire by Céline Sciamma and System Crasher from director Nora Fingscheidt.
And Then We Danced has been picked as Sweden's submission for the next Academy Awards and collected honours including Best Actor Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival for Levan Gelbakhiani and the Best Film Award at the Carl International Film Festival.
The European Film Academy and @filmfesthamburg take great pleasure in announcing the five nominated films for the European University Film Award (EUFA): https://t.co/d7thMeZyQY pic.twitter.com/mY1rDhDnH2
— European Film Awards (@EuroFilmAwards) October 1, 2019
Akin's work shows Merab, a young performer in the Georgian national dance company develop intense attraction to newcomer Irakli.
Portrayed by Gelbakhiani, Merab is "thrown into an emotional storm of both strong desire and jealousy for his new companion" (Carl International Film Festival), with the encounter between the two male performers unfolding in the conservative dance company.
In the words of the director, the feature is "an exploration on discovering and owning your own truth and channelling it through expression", with Akin labelling the work his "most personal film yet".
Premiered to the public at the Directors’ Fortnight festival in Cannes in May, the Swedish-Georgian-French co-production casts Bachi Valishvili in the role of Irakli, the other protagonist.
Akin was born in Stockholm to parents who emigrated from Georgia to Sweden in the 1970s. His debut feature Certain People (2011) was nominated for the Best Film Award of the Stockholm Film Festival, with Yohanna Idha receiving the Best Actress Award for her part in the film.
The European University Film Award was established in 2016 and is presented by the European Film Academy and Filmfest Hamburg.
The five nominated films were selected by producer Carlo Cresta-Dina (Italy), EFA Board Member Joanna Szymańska (producer/Poland) and university representative Dagmar Brunow (Linnaeus University, Sweden).
The selected works will be screened and discussed at 25 universities in as many countries, with each selecting their favourite. The eventual winner will be announced in December and the prize awarded on the eve of the European Film Awards on December 7.
Filmmaker Levan Akin's Swedish-Georgian-French co-production And Then We Danced has been picked as Sweden's submission for the Best International Feature Film competition at the next Academy Awards.
Swedish-based film director Levan Akin, whose feature And Then We Danced has earned critical acclaim at international festivals since its release, has collected the latest accolade in the form of the Best Film Award at the Carl International Film Festival in Sweden.
Actor Levan Gelbakhiani, cast as the principal protagonist of the newly released feature And Then We Danced by filmmaker Levan Akin, has been unveiled as the winner of the Best Actor Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Four films from Georgia, ranging between short works to student productions, are on the big screen for an audience of over 100,000 cinephiles at the ongoing Sarajevo Film Festival — the leading cinema event of the Balkan region.
Swedish-Georgian co-production And Then We Danced will have its world premiere at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight festival in Cannes next month.
Swedish-Georgian co-production And Then We Danced, has won the Iris Prize Best Feature Award, which is an international LGBT film prize.
Georgian actor Levan Gelbakhiani has claimed latest round of plaudits for his performance in filmmaker Levan Akin's feature And Then We Danced after collecting the Best Actor Award at Spain's Valladolid International Film Festival last weekend, with the film itself also honoured at the event.
The festival-touring feature And Then We Danced by director Levan Akin received accolade at the Chicago International Film Festival, with the film about an emotional encounter of two male dancers joining winners of the 55th edition over the weekend.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has promised to ensure safety and freedom of expression amid threats voiced by ultra-nationalist groups just before the premiere of And Then We Danced movie in Tbilisi and Batumi cinemas starting later today.
A Swedish-Georgian-French co-production And Then We Danced has premiered in Georgian cinemas today amid radical groups' protest. The police which promised to ensure safety and freedom of expression amid threats voiced by ultra-nationalist groups earlier today, have detained eleven protesters for violation of public order and police disobedience.
Levan Akin's award-winning feature And Then We Danced will be part of the line-up at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival next month, bringing a personal story of love to the high-profile cinema event.
Georgia's emerging acting talent Levan Gelbakhiani is one of 10 young performers selected as this year's European Shooting Stars by the European Film Promotion and will be unveiled to the Berlin International Film Festival audience to accept the award next month.