TBILISI: The German/Georgian coproduction What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? by Alexander Koberidze will vie in the main competition of the Berlinale, which will hold a special online edition 1 - 5 March 2021. The film is the first Georgian production to screen in the main competition in three decades.

TBILISI: Georgia was strongly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, which shut down cinemas and film production for most of 2020, but Georgian films received new awards at international festivals. Georgian cinema days and retrospectives were held in Brussels, Tallinn, Split and Lisbon, and Georgia was the Focus Country at the 2020 Trento Film Festival.

TBILISI: Georgian film director Soso Chkhaidze's TV series/feature film Shvidkaca is being completed posthumously almost 30 years after the director’s death, and more than 40 years after he began filming. The film, whose working title is the word used to describe folk ensembles, is in the final phase of post-production. Principal photography took place In Tbilisi, Guria villages, Moscow and Stockholm from 1979 to 1987. The producer is Chkhaidze's widow, Nana Zurabishvili.

TBILISI: Dea Kulumbegashvili’s film Beginning has been acquired by the streaming platform Mubi for the USA and UK (Svod Release). This Georgian/French coproduction was selected for Cannes 2020 Official Selection. Paris-based Wild Bunch International is handling the sales. The release date is 29 January 2021.

TBILISI: The total 2020 box office in Georgia decreased by 86% from 4,145,123 EUR / 13,264,395 GEL in 2019 to 564,637 EUR / 2,258,549 GEL in 2020, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Admissions to domestic films decreased from 37,865 in 2019 to 2,000 in 2020, while total admissions dropped by 83% from 1,359,365 in 2019 to 230,160 in 2020.

TBILISI: The notable Georgian film and theatre director and producer Gela Kandelaki is currently in production with his documentary film The Thought. The first shoot took place in 2011-2012 in Georgia. Additional funds are needed to complete the filming and final editing. The project is funded by the GNFC and produced by Kvali XXI.

TBILISI: Georgian classic film director, cinematographer and writer Aleksandre (Sasha) Rekhviahsvili died on 10 December 2020 at the age of 82. The premiere of his last film, the documentary Reviving the Past, whose filming lasted 17 years (2002-2019), was held in Georgia in May 2019

TBILISI: The Georgian National Film Center distributed 45,000 EUR / 180,000 GEL for the development of 12 full-length feature film films to be directed by Marine Gulbiani, Papuna Mosidze, Sandro Naveriani, Zaza Merabishvili, Aleksandre Tsabadze, Mariam Khachvani, Giorgi Tavartkiladze, Uta Beria, Gabriel Razmadze, Shalva Shengeli, Margo Zubashvili and Nodar Marshanishvili.

TBILISI: The 21st edition of the Tbilisi International Film Festival, which opened in an online form on 30 November 2020 and runs through 20 December, awarded financial prizes to three film projects participating in the 2020 edition of Georgian-Baltic Bridge. Projects from Georgia, Estonia and Lithuania were presented at the forum, which took place online from 30 November to 2 December, and the winners were announced on 3 December.

TBILISI: The 21st edition of the Tbilisi International Film Festival opened in an online from on 30 November 2020 and runs through 20 December. The films will be screened on the online platform Festival Scope and will be free to the public.