'And Then We Danced' comes to Sundance Film Festival
Actors Bachi Valishvili (centre) and Levan Gelbakhiani (far right) lead the plot of the feature. Still from film.
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Levan Akin's award-winning feature And Then We Danced will be part of the line-up at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival next month, bringing a personal story of love to the high-profile cinema event.
The film - Sweden's pick for the next Academy Awards - will be in the Spotlight programme, a "tribute to the cinema we love from throughout the past year" (Sundance).
An international audience, attracted to this largest independent cinema festival in the United States, will see Akin's portrayal of love between two male dancers in a conservative national troupe in Georgia.
Screening as one of seven films in Spotlight, And Then We Danced will highlight the performance of actor Levan Gelbakhiani, honoured with awards at Sarajevo and Valladolid festivals, and Bachi Valishvili in the drama.
Premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight festival in Cannes, the feature shows Gelbakhiani's protagonist in an encounter with a newcomer to the company, with their emotional involvement with one another evolving on the backdrop of intolerant attitudes towards their identity both in the group and in the wider public.
Merab, played by Gelbakhiani, "finds himself having to break free and risk everything" after facing his feelings for Irakli, the character brought to the big screen by Valishvili.
Since its release the work has collected numerous prizes at events including the Audience Choice Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and Best Film Award at the Carl International Film Festival. It has also been nominated for the European University Film Award.
Last year's Sundance festival honoured Georgian director Tamta Gabrichidze for her documentary The Trader and screened the short Fatherland by George Sikharulidze, another filmmaker from the country.
The 2020 edition of the popular festival will run between January 23-February 2.
The festival-touring feature And Then We Danced by director Levan Akin received accolade at the Chicago International Film Festival, with the film about an emotional encounter of two male dancers joining winners of the 55th edition over the weekend.
Georgian actor Levan Gelbakhiani has claimed latest round of plaudits for his performance in filmmaker Levan Akin's feature And Then We Danced after collecting the Best Actor Award at Spain's Valladolid International Film Festival last weekend, with the film itself also honoured at the event.
Filmmaker Levan Akin's feature And Then We Danced has been nominated for the European University Film Award, a prize by university students throughout Europe.
Actor Levan Gelbakhiani, cast as the principal protagonist of the newly released feature And Then We Danced by filmmaker Levan Akin, has been unveiled as the winner of the Best Actor Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Swedish-Georgian co-production And Then We Danced will have its world premiere at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight festival in Cannes next month.
Young Georgian filmmaker George Sikharulidze will see his short Fatherland screened in competition at the next edition of the renowned Sundance Film Festival that launches in Utah, the United States next month.
Filmmaker Tamta Gabrichidze has been unveiled among the prize-winners of Sundance Film Festival after her documentary The Trader claimed the Short Film Jury Award at the renowned event on Tuesday.
Georgia's emerging acting talent Levan Gelbakhiani is one of 10 young performers selected as this year's European Shooting Stars by the European Film Promotion and will be unveiled to the Berlin International Film Festival audience to accept the award next month.