Georgian director Zaza Khalvashi will premiere his latest feature Namme to audiences attending next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), a major cinema event in Asia.
The drama will debut among over 150 films selected by organisers for screening at the event scheduled to launch on October 25.
Khalvashi’s work will follow Namme, a girl guardian of a healing spring in a mountainous Georgian village, entrusted with overseeing the healing waters by her father.
By taking up the task Namme continues the family task, while a hydro power station constructed nearby heralds environmental changes for the area.
An unexpected development sees the spring water disappear one day, with Namme’s father remembering an old custom that says it will only return if sacrifice is made for the cause.
A cast of Georgian actors tells the story via Khalvashi’s screenplay in the Georgian-Lithuanian co-production.
The feature was supported with a 400,000 GEL (about 161,000 USD/ 137,000 EUR*) production grant from the Georgian National Film Centre last year.
Actor Mariska Diasamidze plays the principal protagonist of the feature. Photo: alphaviolet.com.
Born in Georgia, Khalvashi worked at the state film studio Georgian Film from 1977-2004.
He has directed features including Solomon (2015), Miserere (1996) and There Where I Live (1990) and has been teaching film direction at the Batumi Art State Teaching University.
The 30th Tokyo International Film Festival will run in Japan’s capital through November 3, with the jury led by acclaimed actor and director Tommy Lee Jones.
Launched as Japan’s first major film festival in 1985, it is the only ï¬lm festival of the country to be accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
* Currency rates according to today's National Bank of Georgia exchange rate.