Cologne film fest award marks latest honour for Ioseb Bliadze's 'A Room of My Own'

Filmmaker Ioseb Bliadze has collected the latest plaudit for his feature A Room of My Own as the jury of the Cologne International Film Festival honoured the work with the NRW Film Prize.

Collecting the award and a €20.000 money prize, the German-Georgian co-production marked its latest success on the international festival scene following the Best Actress Awards handed out to Mariam Khundadze and Taki Mumladze at the Karlovy Vary festival in July.

The Cologne festival prize has been issued since 2016 to recognise films produced with participation of producers or directors from Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region, with the latest issue recognising the contribution of the Colour of May production company from the state to the feature.

A Room of My Own, Bliadze's look at two young women spending Georgia's pandemic-stricken capital Tbilisi in exploring their identity together, was described as a "self-assured" and "authentic" work by Karlovy Vary festival.

It follows Tina, who rents a room from the vibrant Megi, with the latter becoming her pathway to discovering independence without being reliant on men under a patriarchal society.

The feature comes through cinematographic work by Dimitri Dekanosidze, score by Beka Ungiadze and sound by Irakli Ivanishvili. The film marked its world premiere at Karlovy Vary, and follows earlier works that earned Bliadze recognition at European festivals.

The filmmaker was distinguished at last year's Karlovy Vary edition with the Fedeora Award for Otar's Death, while he has also been awarded for Three Steps with a Special Mention of the Berlin International Film Festival and the Best International Short Film Award from exground Filmfest.