Esteemed filmmaker captures life of secluded Georgian monks

An award-winning filmmaker is shining a spotlight on the life and religious service of Monks living in remote Georgian mountains.

Berlin-based American photographer and filmmaker James Higginson's decided to focus his cameras on the Georgian Monks for his new documentary film Devout.

The priests were filmed every day as they lived and served in the Dzama Gorge monasteries in central Georgia.

The documentary explored the Orthodox Christian monks to "pay homage to their lifestyle and visit [the] amazingly beautiful remote monastery locations" they served in, said Higginson.

He first visited Georgia in 2012 and began collecting material for his film by interviewing monks living 1700m above sea level in mountains of the Urbnisi Eparchy. The Eparchy featured the largest concentrated number of monasteries in Georgia.

The documentary used materials gathered from interviews with the local archbishop, priests, monks and devotees serving in the Eparchy churches.

Higginson continued his series of interviews in 2014 and hoped to finalise the production in the near future.

The American filmmaker was working with the Berlin-based AVONBIEHL-LAB to produce the documentary. In the past he collaborated with the producers on upcoming feature film Road to Batumi, which was also shot in Georgia.

Higginson is an acclaimed filmmaker and has won several awards during his career. He won the 1987-1988 Daytime Emmy Award for Art Direction and has worked in film and television, and taught photography at the University of Art and Design in Berlin.

Watch Higginson’s introduction and trailer for the Devout documentary film below: