US festival shows award-winning and fresh Georgian films

An award-winning film and a brand new documentary by two Georgian directors will be shown at a United States (US) film festival dedicated to productions from South East Europe later this month.

Prize-winning feature film Moira by Levan Tutberidze and short documentary Georgian Dance by Salome Tkebuchava will be shown to audiences of the South East European Film Festival (SEEfest) in California starting April 28.

The 11th annual film festival will host the world premiere of Tkebuchava's documentary.

Tutberidze's film will be presented as one of 24 feature works from countries including Serbia, Romania, Bosnia and Slovenia.

A still from Levan Tutberidze's feature film 'Moira'. Photo from seefilmla.org.

Moira - Georgia's 2016 Oscar bid - will be presented at the US film festival on April 30, following its screening this weekend as part of the week-long celebration of Georgia's independence in London, the United Kingdom.

The feature-length drama tells the tale of two brothers who embark on different paths who come together to support each other and their family in hardship.

The festival will also offer cinema-lovers four sections presenting 16 short films, including the world premiere of Georgian Dance, a 29-minute documentary by Tkebuchava.

A still from Salome Tkebuchava's short documentary 'Georgian Dance'. Photo from seefilmla.org.

A co-production of Georgia and US, the short film explores traditions of Georgia's national folk dance as well as its performers.

The documentary is the third work by the young filmmaker, who recently received the NATAS Student Award for her debut short pieces Bad Day and The Theatre.

#SEEfest11 is premiering Salome Tkebuchava's 'Georgian Dance', her NATAS student award-winning film. https://t.co/rPpqkO4RyV

— SEEfest (@seefilmla) 11 April 2016

The two Georgian films and others presented at the SEEfest will be screened at four venues in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and West Hollywood.

The festival aims to "[promote] cultural diversity of South East Europe through its annual presentations of films from this region and year-round screenings and programs," its organisers said.

The cinema occasion will run from April 30 to May 5.

The 2016 SEEfest full program can be viewed on the official website here.