'And Then We Danced' awarded Chicago Film Fest prizes
From left: Director Levan Akin, actors Levan Gelbakhiani and Bachi Valishvili at the film's premiere at the Directors' Fortnight festival in Cannes earlier this year. Photo via And Then We Danced film page on Facebook.
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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.
Collecting the Audience Choice Award for Best International Feature, Akin's Cannes Directors' Fortnight Festival-premiered work also secured the principal prize in the Out-Look Competition of the Chicago event.
The two honours came in the same week both the film and its principal protagonist Levan Gelbakhiani were lauded at Spain's Valladolid International Film Festival, taking the Rainbow Spike and Best Actor Award respectively.
The #ChiFilmFest Audience Award for Best International Feature goes to @atwdfilm! https://t.co/yZLs9BgRd7 pic.twitter.com/c05PSaUrjL
— Chicago Intl. Film Festival (@chifilmfest) October 29, 2019
And Then We Danced follows Merab, a young performer in a Georgian national dance company, develop intense attraction to newcomer Irakli. The former 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".
The Swedish-Georgian-French co-production casts Bachi Valishvili in the role of Irakli and was honoured at other events including the Sarajevo Film Festival.
It has also been selected by Sweden as the country's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the next Oscars ceremony.
The Chicago Film Festival is a year-round event working to contribute to cultural landscape and local scene in the city. It was launched in the mid-1960s as an alternative to commercial cinema from the Hollywood and has since become an internationally recognised event.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The main protagonist of Swedish-Georgian-French co-production And Then We Danced Levan Gelbakhiani won in the best actors’ nomination at the Minsk International Film Festival yesterday.
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.
Filmmaker Levan Akin, director of the award-winning feature And Then We Danced, is among film professionals invited to become the latest members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, receiving the honour from the prestigious American organisation for his directorial work.
Film director Levan Akin, recipient of awards from international festivals for his feature And Then We Danced, has revealed he is working on a new film project, with shootings set to be held in Turkey and Georgia.