The film which was shot in Georgia, “The President” by the famous Mohsen Makhmalbaf will open the festival. The director will present the work himself to the Georgian audience. Hanna Makhmalbaf will also be the guest of Tbilisi this year.
The International Competition still remains as the most important section. Marco Müller will head the Jury this year. One of the most prominent figures in modern film industry, Mr. Müller is a Producer and the former artistic director of Rome and Venice International Film Festivals. The International Jury members are: Reza Mirkarimi – filmmaker, the representative of Iranian new wave (his “Today” will be a special screening in the program), Peter Webber – Filmmaker, UK (the famous “Girl with a Pearl Earing” will also be a special screening), Severija Janusauskaite – Lithuanian actress, (Her new work “The Star” by Anna Melikyan will be screened in the program) and Nana Ekvtimishvili – the author of one of the most popular Georgian films, “In Bloom.”
The fact that International competition includes two Georgian films this year proves the successful steps of Georgian Film Industry. Salome Alexi will present her “Line of Credit” and Lasha Tskvitinidze, the youngest participant in competition will present his debut . “I’m Beso” was already highlighted at various International film festivals. The French director of Georgian origins, Ms. Marie Amashoukeli will visit Tbilisi with her “Party Girl”. The film received Camera d’Or this year in Cannes. The Grand prize winner of Cannes critic’s week of 2014, the Ukrainian debut “The Tribe” is among participants as well.
“Forum of European Cinema” is the most traditional and popular section of the festival. Its selection includes the most significant works of the year: the winner of Cannes Palme d’Or, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Winter Sleep” will be presented by its producer. Cannes grand prize winner, Alice Rohrwacher ‘s “The Wonders” and a new 3D film of a French legend Jean-Luc Godard “Goodbye to Language” are also included. The latest work of François Ozon, “The New Girlfriend” and this year’s grand opening at Cannes, “Saint Laurent” by Bertrand Bonello is in the selection, Kornél Mundruczó ‘s “White God” (winner of “Un certain regard” at Cannes). This year, the film world lost a brilliant actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, the festival will screen his last work, “A Most Wanted Man” by Anton Corbijn. The program also includes the best films from EFA selection. “Walesa: a Man of Hope” by Andrzej Wajda, “Clouds of Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas – With an interesting collaboration of Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart. A Spanish filmmaker Luis Miñarro will visit Tbilisi, to present his “Falling Star”. Forum also includes “The Human Capital” by Paolo Virzi and a new work of young Swedish director Lukas Moodysson, “We are the Best” (Winner of Tokyo and Göteborg International Film Festivals). Tbilisi will be visited by the famous Portuguese filmmaker Vítor Gonçalves, he will present his “Invisible Life” to the Georgian Audience and alike all guests, will hold a Q & A session after the screening.
A French –Mauritanian film “Timbuktu” will be presented by the section “Horizons.” The section also contains Berlinale Golden bear winner, a detective by Chinese Yi'nan Diao, “Black Coal, Thin Ice.” Iranian Film Director, Reza Dormishian will present his independent work “I Am Not Angry!” , “Time Lapse” by a young American filmmaker Bradley King will also be screened, featuring an actor of Georgian Origins, George Finn. “Horizons” will also screen The owner of 13 different festival prizes, Taiwanese Tsai Ming Liang’s “Stray Dogs.” A producer from Brazil, Fernanda Di Capua will be the festival’s guest as well and present “Casa Grande” by Fellipe Barbosa, which tells a story of Class Antagonism.
“World in Docs” section will once again intend to unify the works which speak of current issues around the globe. The section lists well-known names such as: Julie Bertuccell (“The School of Babel”) and “The Look of Silence” from the Oscar winning filmmaker, Joshua Oppenheimer. The section will outline the important political events as well: “The Term” will describe a Russian opposition movement, while Ukrainian Alex Shiriaeff will present his critical film, “The Gas Weapon.” A film by Iranian brothers, Arman T. Riahi and Arash T. Riahi, “Everyday Rebellion” illustrates the nonviolent protests around the world and different ways of protest.
The 15th edition will continue the tradition of choosing a problematic social subject within Georgia and dedicating a part of the program to it. Each year the festival concentrates on an important issue and intends to highlight it with a special section, arranging discussions and events to review it with the Georgian audience. The 15th festival will be green, the main subject this year will be responsible city planning and the ecological problems aroused by the process of urbanization. A section entitled as “Green is The Color” will try to raise awareness and underline the necessity of Human-nature relationship, to show various examples of life in urban space or out in the Wild. The section includes 6 films: “The Summer of Flying Fish” by Cuban filmmaker Marcela Said, premiered in Cannes competition this year. Also, a film named as “Masterpiece” by the new the discovery of world Art-Haus Cinema, Carlos Reygadas, “Post Tenebras Lux”. The first documentary to win the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival – Gianfranco Rosi’s “Sacro GRA” will tell a story about a highway surrounding Rome. A part from screenings, a special exhibition will be arranged, exposing the current problematic zones of the city and comparing them to the Soviet Past. The festival will also try to collaborate with today’s Green activists in Georgia. The National Georgian Archive will also contribute to the section and present Soviet documentaries on the same subject.
“Country in Focus” will be Benelux this year. The newest and significant films from Belgium, Luxemburg and Netherlands will be presented. A Multimedia documentary by Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting will offer an interesting form of Animation and Documentary synthesis. The Oscar winning animator, Alexandre Espigares will be the guest of the festival this year and present his “Mr. Hublot.” “Two days, One Night” by Dardenne brothers could be considered as the highlight of the section, the film lovers around the world are already calling it a masterpiece and marking the extraordinary performance of Marion Cotillard.
A world known Serbian filmmaker, Goran Paskaljević will be the Director in Focus of the 15th festival. Paskaljević is the author of 30 documentaries and 16 fiction features. His work has been acclaimed at the most prestigious international film festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and San Sebastian…). The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) in 2008 and BFI Southbank's (London) in 2010 presented a full retrospective of his work. In 2001, Variety International Film Guide marked Paskaljević as one of the world's top five directors of the year. The section will screen the key films of the director’s creative work: “Beach Guard in Wintertime” (1976) – the debut feature work. “Midwinter Night's Dream” - allegories on Balkan war which caused public outrage after release by its sharp criticism and “When The Day Breaks – the story about a retired music professor, which shows how private life is inseparable from politics.
Having the number of films from Cannes, the festival has decided to add a special screening of Short films from Cannes. Eight works will be screened from Columbia, Norway, USA, France, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Romania. The listing also includes the Georgian film by Dea Kulumbegashvili, “The Invisible Spaces.”
While speaking of Georgian film, it has to be mentioned that 2014 was a very productive year. The traditional section outlining new Georgian work is called “Georgian Panorama” which includes seven new feature films, five shorts and four documentaries this year. The feature films listed in “Panorama” will also participate in national competition. In addition to Best Film and Best Director, two prizes will be granted this year: Best Actor and Best Actress.
With the Support of Goethe Institute, “Made in Germany” section will introduce the new German Cinema again. The winner of Berlinale Silver Bear, “Stations of the Cross” has already gained international recognition and could be mentioned as the most significant German work of 2014. Dominik Graf’s “Beloved Sisters” shows the pictures from Friedrich Schiller’s Biography. “Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision” by Edgar Reitz is a prequel to the Heimat film series and was premiered at Venice Film Festival.
Last year, the festival started with a demonstration regarding historical cinema “Apollo.” One of the oldest cinemas in the world, which is located on Agmashenebeli Ave is a historical monument of Georgian Cinema. Saving the movie theatre will still be an important issue of the program. This is why the National Georgian Archives will present the special section “Apollo: Film memory” which will screen the classics by Ivan Kavaleridze: “Koliivshchina” (1933) – which describes the rally of working class against Polish aristocracy, “Perekop” (1930) – the story of Ukrainian village opposing to industrial reforms and “Prometheus” (1936), based on the biography and work of Ukrainian Poet, Shevchenko.
One of the most important parts of Tbilisi International Film Festival is the industry events. This is where the Georgian film network discusses all the technical issues concerning the complex nature of film production process. Conferences, master classes and trainings are the key activities that form the most required contribution the festival can offer to local Industry, to expand the network and advance the field of cinema in Georgia. The main industrial event of the year will be “Tbilisi Industry Days” a three day working sessions on co-production, filming in Georgia and Film insurance. A conference on the development of Municipal cinemas in regions will be held as well. Additionally, young professionals will have a chance to participate in pitching trainings and present their film projects for further funding. The Georgian Film development Fund will grant a monetary prize to the best project. Series of Master classes will be held from 1st to the 7th of December by such renowned film professionals as: Zeynep Ozbatur Atakan - the producer of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Alexandre Espigares, British director Peter Webber, Iranian Reza Mirkarimi, Film critique Naum Kleiman, the Austrian sound designer Eric Spitzer-Merlyn and Goran Paskaljević.
CAUCADOC, a project to support documentary production in southern Caucasus will organize special events within the frames of Tbilisi International Film Festival. Apart from Pitching training and prizes, CAUCADOC will host International documentary professionals such as: Phil Cox (UK), Sean Farnel (Canada), Johanna Bernhardsson and Karen Ekberg (Swedesh).
In September of 2014, the new project was launched by the team of Tbilisi International Film Festival and Yerevan International Film Festival, Golden Apricot. Entitled as “Cinema Express Armenia-Georgia”, it screened six newest Armenian and Georgian cinematic works in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Northern Armenia, in regions of Shiraqi and Lori. A special screening will be held to sum up the project.
Jivan Avetisyan’s “Tevanik” describes the Karabakh conflict. The film compilation of seven Georgian directors called ‘”Tbilisi, I love you” will be included in special screenings as well. The work features Malcolm McDowell, Ron Perlman, George Finn, Giorgi Kipshidze, Ia Sukhitashvili and Tinatin Dalakishvili. “Tbilisi, I love you” is a part of Emmanuel Benbihy’s “Cities Of Love” franchise that started with Paris, je t'aime and New York, I Love You.
The festival will close with Uberto Pasolini’s “Still Life”. The director will be present at the screening and meet the Georgian Audience. “Still Life” received more than 20 prizes at various international film festivals, including Venice (Best Film and Best Director at “Horizons”) and Reykjavik (Best Film, FIPRESCI prize).
