Tbilisi occasion celebrates filmmaker Lana Gogoberidze, Georgian cinema history
The 90th birthday of acclaimed filmmaker Lana Gogoberidze was celebrated by cinema figures and cultural dignitaries in Tbilisi on Thursday, while an exhibition marking 110 years of Georgian cinema also opened at the National Archives of Georgia.
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The 90th birthday of acclaimed filmmaker Lana Gogoberidze was celebrated by cinema figures and cultural dignitaries in Tbilisi on Thursday, while an exhibition marking 110 years of Georgian cinema also opened at the National Archives of Georgia.
At the new cinema theatre of the Archives, the big display screened Cheerless, a 1934-premiered work by Gogoberidze’s late mother Nutsa, for the first time in Georgia in 85 years to mark the occasion.
It was seen by Lana Gogoberidze for the first time, as the director was flanked Mikheil Batiashvili, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, and other personalities of the country’s film and culture scene.
The 1934 film ‘Cheerless’ by Nutsa Gogoberidze was screened at the new cinema theatre of the venue. Photo: Photo: National Archives of Georgia.
[With this screening and occasion] I feel as if my mother has now returned [from forced resettlement by Soviet authorities],” Gogoberidze told reporters at the event.
First screened in 1934, the work was significant for being directed by Georgia’s first female filmmaker, however Soviet cultural censors prevented it from being shown again.
Nutsa Gogoberidze was arrested during the political purges in the mid- to late 1930s and forcibly resettled in 1937.
The film’s return to big screen in Georgia was made possible through an ongoing project of bringing back original film rolls of Soviet Georgian classics from the Russian Gosfilmofond archives to home country.
Lana Gogoberidze’s anniversary was honoured by Georgian cinema figures at the Archives. Photo: Photo: National Archives of Georgia.
Cheerless was among rolls returned to Georgian archives last month and was digitised for screening and preservation purposes.
A second public premiere of the work is also planned by the Archives for introducing the film to a wider audience.
The event on Thursday celebrated Gogoberidze, who graduated from the Moscow State University Faculty of Cinematography and worked at the Soviet-era Georgian Film studio, directing nine features between 1961-1992.
She is particularly recognised for her 1978 film Some Interviews on Personal Matters, the protagonist of which is seen interviewing women about their lives and aspirations. The feature has come to be regarded as one of the first feminist films of the Soviet era.
The ongoing exhibition of film photographs and posters at the Archives marks 110 years of Georgian cinema. Photo: Photo: National Archives of Georgia.
The feature has been part of film rosters introducing retrospectives of classic Georgian cinema to audiences in cities including Berlin and Seoul over the recent years.
Gogoberidze, coming from a family lineage of film professionals, was distinguished with the Prometheus Prize of the 2015 Tbilisi International Film Festival for her contribution to the country’s cinematic legacy.
Her accolades include 1993 Berlin International Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for The Waltz on the Pechora and the 1987 Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Director for Whirlwind.
The director was also nominated for the 1984 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or for Day Is Longer Than Night and for Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for The Waltz on the Pechora.
The display features photos from shooting locations and posters made for Soviet classics. Photo: Photo: National Archives of Georgia.
A day before the celebration of Gogoberidze’s birthday, the Archives also hosted the opening of the exhibition Georgian Cinema to mark the 110th anniversary of filmmaking in the country.
Exhibits of the display include photographs from shooting locations and posters for classic films including My Grandmother, Pastorale and An Unusual Exhibition.
The selected material illustrates films dated between 1920s-1980s, with the display set to receive visitors through January 9.
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