Montreal fest to premiere filmmaker Gigisha Abashidze’s work

The Montreal World Film Festival, launching in the Canadian city this week, will host the international debut of Neighbours, a drama by Gigisha Abashidze and the first-ever co-production between Georgia and Macedonia.

Abashidze’s feature drama will be seen by film-goers in the Focus on World Cinema non-competitive section, where over 30 works by filmmakers from around the globe will be screened.

Involving a cast of Georgian actors, the film shows a group of neighbours living in a dilapidated yard when an investor arrives one day.

Involving a buy-out their houses to make way for a skyscraper project, his proposal sounds good to all except Gia, who has already renovated his part of the building.

Written by Abashidze and Ioseb Bliadze, the feature was filmed between October through December 2016.

Neighbours received in-production awards during its work-in-progress stage, including the Best Project prize at the international film festivals in Sofia and Tbilisi in 2014.

The film’s plot is centred around an old yard housing a neighbourhood. Photo: Neighbours film Facebook page.

Its production team involves Lasha Khalvashi, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Svetozar Ristovski.

The Montreal festival is promoted as the only competitive North American film festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

This year’s event will run between August 23-September 3.