Georgian-directed films ’Luka’, ’House of Others’ triumph at Beijing fest

Two films by Georgian directors swept nearly half of the awards at this year’s Beijing International Film Festival that concluded on Sunday, earning recognition for their filmmakers and actors.

Director Giorgi Barabadze’s 2016 feature Luka was singled out by the festival juries as the winner of Best Feature Film of the event.

The drama film also earned the Best Supporting Actress award for Lia Kapanadze for her part in the script following three characters on the backdrop of the early 1990s war in Georgia’s breakaway-region of Abkhazia.

The plot follows Lile, a mother who has lost custody of her son Luka, with the latter being sent to live with her Lile’s mother-in-law, Nina. After Lile hears Luka has been killed in the conflict and sets out to recover his body for burial, she is confronted by Nina while they wait for the body to arrive.

Barabadze's film also screened at last year's Stockholm International Film Festival in Sweden.

The Beijing festival also drew praise for Rusudan Glurjidze’s internationally acclaimed feature House of Others, with the filmmaker named Best Director.

The 2017 Oscar bid from Georgia was also singled out for the Best Cinematography award, marking the work by Spanish cinematographer Gorka Gomez Andreu.

Glurjidze’s feature narrates a story of two families that survive the destructive war in Abkhazia, with civilians on the winning side being haunted by memories as they are given houses cleared of their expelled owners.

A scene from the feature film 'House of Others'. Photo: Bergen International Film Festival.

The Georgian director received her prize from famous French actor Jean Reno at the festival that brings together many of the world cinema faces.

The seventh edition of the festival included over 270 films from nearly 60 countries. In addition, the event hosted over 300 activities in sections including project pitches and a film market.

The pitching sessions hosted presentations for over 700 cinema projects, with the market section hosting industry professionals from across the world.

The festival ran in China’s capital from April 16-23.