Batumi Arthouse Film Fest unveils full programme, juries

A varied selection of fiction, documentary and short works in customary and new sections will celebrate auteur cinema on Georgia's Black Sea coastline with the opening of the Batumi International Arthouse Film Festival this weekend.

After their unveiling of a special pandemic-related section in the spring, organisers will showcase the submissions along with 35 features in competition and out-of-competition selections in the week-long event.

A jury team comprised of both Georgian masters of filmmaking and their foreign counterparts will judge each of the programmes, with foreign judges connecting through video link as a result of pandemic precautions and travel complications.

Headlining the festival, the feature competition section will put on the big screen nine works by directors from across the world - ranging from Philippe Garrel with his The Salt of Tears to Mohammad Rasoulof's There is no Evil, and Persona N2 from Anna Basilia.

The work of Garrel, a French New Wave director with six decades of directorial work under the belt, will bring a script of a young carpenter travelling to Paris for joining a school for his trade. The protagonist strikes up a short-lived relationship with a woman in the city before rekindling ties with his former partner and getting into another acquaintance back in the capital.

Rasoulof's three-way co-production between Germany, Iran and Czech Republic explores political and social undercurrents in Iran, with IndieWire calling it a "brilliant look at Iranians who serve as executioners and those who refuse". The subject is dealt with via four stories, their responsibilities and the impact of the circumstances they find themselves in.

Georgian director Basilia is bringing her drama about a meeting between personalities within a single individual, with the work also relating to the pandemic reality, the filmmaker said in a preview for the festival.

Two documentary sections will await those into non-fiction works, with the feature documentary section featuring seven films and a CineDOC-Tbilisi festival selection with four directorial works.

In another notable section, entitled COVIDEO, shorts directed to reflect on pandemic isolation, 25 films from across the world will be screened. Organisers built the section from both amateur and professional submissions and with runtime of between one and five minutes.

The 2020 BIAFF edition will bring together jury teams of renown film professionals to select favourites. Award-winning filmmaker Lana Ghoghoberidze will head the feature competition panel which will see Carmen Grey, Layth Abdulamir, Nika Abramishvili and George Ovashvili work to identify the best in the programme.

The documentary team will be led by Nino Kirtadze, another woman director from Georgia, with Krzistof Gierat, Irina Romanchenko, Levan Koghuashvili and Mikheil kvirikadze contributing.

Finally, the shorts competition will bring together the knowledge of Otar Litanishvili, Zurab Maghalashvili and Dato Evgenidze to judge the submissions of the section.

The full selection and list of all sections of the festival can be viewed on the official website. The latest BIAFF edition is set to run between September 13-20 in Batumi.