Documentary 'Cadillac Dreams' wins Eurasiadoc Meetings, to be pitched at DOK Leipzig

Young film director Elena Mikaberidze's documentary Cadillac Dreams will be pitched at the co-production market of the high-profile DOK Leipzig Documentary and Animation Film Festival after winning at the Eurasiadoc Meetings industry event on the weekend.

The work-in-progress film follows its protagonist, torn between his lives on the opposite sides of the administrative boundary separating the Russian-occupied Abkhazia province from the rest of Georgia. The project is also a theme of focus for Mikaberidze, who explores the subject of borders in her work.

On the weekend Cadillac Dreams, which in May was distinguished with the Eurasiadoc Award at the CineDOC-Tbilisi International Documentary Film Festival, was unveiled as winner of the industry pitching session Eurasia Doc Meetings in Armenia, paving way for it to be presented in Leipzig next year.

The feature-length documentary follows teenage boy Nika with friends on both sides of the border that has separated residents of Abkhazia and rest of Georgia since an armed conflict in the north-western province in the early 1990s.

Filmmaker Elena Mikaberidze pitched her documentary at the Eurasiadoc Meetings industry event. Photo via Georgian National Film Centre.

Having to ask for a permit to cross the boundary - patrolled by Russian guards - the protagonist makes acquaintances on the Georgian-controlled territory and speaks to them about his life, experiences and aspirations, ultimately admitting he sees "no future" for himself on the other side.

Presenting the project to European producers and television professionals, Mikaberidze was one of three Georgian directors at the event, with Maka Gogaladze pitching her work My Piece of the Earth and Tiko Nadirashvili bringing Monk to the juries.

Mikaberidze has directed A Bitter Lesson, another work on the subject of the de-facto border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia. Born to a Georgian father and Abkhaz mother, she left Georgia at the age of five to move to Brussels, Belgium along with her parents.

Two years ago she decided to return to her homeland and has focused her filmmaking on the subject of the occupation lines of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) - another region taken over by Russian troops since the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia - affecting people's lives.

Eurasiadoc industry platform was established in 2011 by French association Docmonde to support development of documentary projects.

The DOK Co-pro Market of DOK Leipzig will host the pitching of Cadillac Dreams during the 2020 edition of the festival.