Two Georgian films in competition at leading Latin American festival

Two films by Georgian directors will feature at one of Latin America's most important festivals, starting next week.

For 10 days the Guanajuato International Film Festival (GIFF) will screen more than 400 cinema projects at 21 venues in two Mexican cities.

Representing Mexico's largest film festival, the July 22-31 Guanajuato event is also promoted by its organisers as "one of the most important platforms for emerging filmmakers in Latin America".

Feature, documentary and short films from more than 50 countries will compete in several categories including Short Fiction, Short Animation, Short Experimental, Short Documentary, Long Documentary and Narrative Feature.

Award-winning film 'When the Earth Seems to Be Light' will screen in the Long Documentary section of the festival. Photo from the film's Facebook page.

Screenings will be complemented by workshops, conferences, tributes and activities, all open to the visiting public for free. 

Among the hundreds of films shown at the film festival will be two works by Georgian filmmakers.

Award-winning feature documentary When the Earth Seems to Be Light by directors Salome Machaidze, Tamuna Karumidze and David Meskhi will be presented in the Long Documentary section of the festival on July 22 and 27.

The German-Georgian collaboration claimed Best First Appearance Prize at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam last year and will look to add another international award to its honours.

The international success of the documentary led to the film's two main protagonists being picked up by a high fashion label. Sandro Popkhadze and Nikoloz Chavchavadze were invited to walk the Spring/Summer 2017 collection show for the famous designer house Balenciaga last month.

Dea Kulumbegashvili's new short film 'Lethe' will also feature in the official competition at the GIFF festival. Photo from www.commeaucinema.com.

In the Mexican festival's official Short Fiction Film section, director Dea Kulumbegashvili will present her new work Lethe. The film was picked among 11 short projects by directors from around the world to screen at the 48th annual Directors’ Fortnight festival in France in May of this year.

Later this year Lethe is expected to screen at the International Art-House Film Festival in Georgia's seaside city Batumi.

Established in 1998, the GIFF festival is held annually during the final weeks of July in the cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato in central Mexico.

The main objective of the occasion is a "strengthening of cinema through the mutual exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas" as well as "acting as a platform for launching new careers", said its organisers.

The full program of the Guanajuato International Film Festival can be found on the official website here.