Georgian filmmakers showcased at leading Dutch fest

Two films by Georgian directors Dea Kulumbegashvili and Ioseb Bliadze will be showcased to hundreds of thousands of visitors at one of the largest European film festivals later this month.

From January 25-February 5, the western Dutch city Rotterdam will come alive for the 46th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The occasion that began in 1972 with seventeen attendees on its opening night now plays host to one of the largest crowds for continental film events, with 305,000 admissions registered in its 2016 edition.

See the teaser for Dea Kulumbegashvili's 2016 short film 'Lethe' below:

Among about 500 feature and short films screened to the cinema-goers this year will be the award-winning short Lethe by Dea Kulumbegashvili and Three Steps by Ioseb Bliadze.

Kulumbegashvili's film, a co-production between France and Georgia filmed in one of Georgia's mountainous villages, will screen within the Preludes theme of the Short Film section of the festival.

The film premiered at the 2016 Director's Fortnight festival in Cannes, France in May last year and was also shown to audiences at the Batumi International Art-House Film Festival in Georgia.

Kulumbegashvili's work collected the Cinematic Achievement Award at the Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival in Greece in November last year.

It was praised as "an extraordinary film that in a manner is not only unforgettable but also adds a step forward in cinema" by festival director and curator Yiannis Zachopoulos.

Ioseb Bliadze's short submission will be part of the Voices Short Film theme of the Dutch occasion.

It is the filmmaker's second short project and was co-written with directors Elmar Imanov and Giga Liklikadze.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam will involve a "high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art," said its organisers.

Beside screening of its competition programs, the festival also involves industry occasions including the co-production market CineMart, Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab.

See the full program of short films at this year's festival here.