‘Gamardzoba Kino’: Warsaw discovers Georgian cinema, meets filmmakers

Enthusiasts of cinema in Warsaw were treated to this year’s edition of Georgian Film Review ‘Gamardzoba Kino’, a programme of screenings and talks, that brought award-winning new and classic works to the capital.

At the city’s Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, three days of screenings saw nine films by Georgian directors brought to the attending audience, as some of the filmmakers also travelled to meet them for discussions.

Organisers aimed to showcase a “new generation of Georgian directors” who received acclaim from critics at international festivals over the past few years, as well as art-house works from the decade.

Tornike Bziava and Ana Chubinidze were the two directors present at the Warsaw venue to talk about their respective films The April Chill (2010) and Pocket Man (2016).

As the two sat down with moderators, film critics and personalities from Poland also appeared on guests, with all three days of screenings complemented by talks for visiting audiences.

Beside Bziava’s short, distinguished with the Special Mention of the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival, and the animation work by Chubinidze, which earned the two prizes at the Montreal International Children’s Film Festival, the programme saw more works from emerging and established filmmakers.

The selection included Ana Urushadze’s debut feature Scary Mother, Dede by Mariam Khatchvani and Namme directed by Zaza Khalvashi — three features from 2017 that have been awarded high-profile cinema prizes.

From the earlier works Black Mulberry (2011) and Keep Smiling (2012), by Gabriel Razmadze and Rusudan Tchkonia respectively, formed the programme. Giorgi Gagoshidze’s The Invisible Hand of My Father (2018), a Germany-Georgia-Portugal co-production completed the view at Georgia’s contemporary cinema.

Filmmaker Ana Chubinidze (centre) speaks during a meeting with film enthusiasts in Warsaw. Photo: Young Ambassador of Georgia to the Republic of Poland.

Finally, the newer productions were joined for a bit of retrospective by Extraordinary Exhibition, a 1968 Classic work by Eldar Shengelaia.

The Kaukaz.net foundation in Poland organised the publicly open screenings, as the annual programme was held with support from the Embassy of Georgia in the country.

Young Ambassador of Georgia to the Republic of Poland, Georgia Adventure Club, TiM S.A., Centre for East European Studies of the University of Warsaw, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Warsaw and Polish Institute in Tbilisi are other supporting institutions of Georgian Film Review.

This year’s cinema event ran in Warsaw between April 5-7.