The Independent: “Georgian cinema: The former Soviet Bloc nation is now a movie-making hot spot”

"There has never been a better time to watch films made in Georgia” writes Kaleem Aftab for leading UK media outlet The Independent.

In the past two years the country can boast having produced several award-winning films and has replaced Romania as the former Soviet Bloc country where the most exciting films in the world are currently being made.”

He adds the best of Georgia’s recent films have been on show at the fourth edition of the London Georgian Film Festival.

Zaza Urushadze’s film Tangerines (Mandarinebi) was screened on opening night. The film was shortlisted for both Oscar and Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Film and was the first Estonia-Georgia co-production.

What's captivating is the sparse storytelling style, in which the audience is expected to have the aplomb to pick up on the subtext and the allusion to the continuing tensions that exist in countries of the former Soviet bloc,” Aftab writes.

George Ovashvili's-directed film Corn Island was also shown and quickly received critical acclaim with Variety describing it as "an astonishing feat of cinema presented with utmost modesty” and The Hollywood Reporter claiming that it is "a masterclass in emotionally charged minimalism”.

The festival also featured several other films including In Bloom and Blind Dates and three short films from the 1930s that were funded by the Soviet state, as well as a talk with Georgia’s most famous film-maker Otar Iosseliani, and a screening of his 1994 work Alone, Georgia.

Read the full article here: www.independent.co.uk