Dea Kulumbegashvili’s 'Beginning' wins San Sebastian Film Festival
Recently Dea Kulumbegashvili has collected the FIPRESCI international film critics award at the Toronto International Film Festival for her feature debut Beginning, with the film praised for an "emotionally compelling debut". Photo: San Sebastian Film Festival/Facebook
Tweet 
Share
The film Beginning directed by Georgian Dea Kulumbegashvili has received ‘the golden shell’ at the San Sebastian Film Festival, the event’s first prize.
Kulumbegashvili has also received 'the silver shell' for best director. Together with Rati Oneli she also received jury prize for best screenplay. Meanwhile Ia Sukhitashvili received 'the silver shell' for best actress as well.
In the Beginning, Kulumbegashvili shows an experience of harassment by a Jehovah's witness and her family in a remote town in Georgia, where both the police and an extremist group subject them to violence.
In a sleepy provincial town, a Jehovah Witness community is attacked by an extremist group. In the midst of this conflict, the familiar world of Yana, the wife of the community leader, slowly crumbles. Yana’s inner discontent grows as she struggles to make sense of her desires”, a synopsis for the film reads.
The film features Ia Sukhitashvili, Oneli and Kakha Kintsurashvili as protagonists, with editing by Matthieu Taponier and a score composed by internationally acclaimed producer Nicolas Jaar. The film is produced by First Picture, Zadig Films and O.F.A.
Supported by the Georgian National Film Center, the Georgian-French co-production has also seen support by the Residence of the Cannes Cinéfondation, the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab in Jerusalem, Sofia Meetings and Sarajevo’s CineLink, as well as the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund.