Georgia in focus at Sofia International Film Festival

Georgia will be at the heart of this year’s prestigious Sofia International Film Festival.

At the 19^th annual festival, held on March 5-15, guests will have the opportunity to get a glimpse of all things Georgian – from old Georgian movies to contemporary Georgian cinematography.

In honour of the Georgian film era of the 60s and 70s, a number of Georgian classic movies will be shown at the event. A further selection of almost a dozen contemporary works of Georgian directors will be screened, included this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominations – Tangerines by Zaza Urushadze and Corn Island by George Ovashvili.

Georgia will be given particular emphasis at the festival – 10 films will feature in the ‘Focus on Georgia’ section and six films will feature in the ‘Focus on Georgia – Georgian Classics” section.

Of the 16 featured films, two films - The President by Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Lost in Karastan by Ben Hopkins – are non-Georgian directed, but they were filmed in Georgia, have Georgian actors and were co-produced with Georgian producers.

On another note, the Georgian film Line of Credit by Salome Aleksi is a contender for the International Competition Award of the Festival.

The film is about a beautiful woman named Nino who heavily indebted with loans. The story follows the financial crisis and the years 2009 to 2013, where 14 percent of the Georgian population lost their homes and their life savings because of high interest loans.

Meanwhile among the festival jury are Georgian directors Nana Dzhordzhadze and Levan Koguashvili, who both won grand prize awards of the international competition at last year’s Sofia International Film Festival.

The 16 Georgian films presented at the festival are: 

 ‘Focus on Georgia’ section 

•  Blind Dates by Levan Koguashvili. (This film won the international competition grand prize at the 2014 Sofia International Film Festival). 
• Brides by Tinatin Kajrishvili 
•  Corn Island by George Ovashvili 
• Cradle of Wine by Merab Kokochashvili 
• Don’t Breathe by Nino Kirtadze
• Line of Credit by Salome Aleksi- Meskhishvili
• Lost in Karastan by Ben Hopkins
• My Mermaid, My Lorelei by Nana Dzhordzhadze
• Tangerines by Zaza Urushadze
• The President by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

‘Focus on Georgia – Georgian Classics’ section

• A Chef in Love by Nana Dzhordzhadze
• Blue Mountains, or Unbelievable Storyby Eldar Shengelaia
• Falling Leaves by Otar Iosseliani 
• Pirosmani by Georgi Shengelaya
• Repentance by Tengiz Abuladze
• The Wishing Tree by Tengiz Abuladze