The film had its world premiere in the competition of the 21st Giornati degli Autori / Venice Days section within the Venice Film Festival (28 August – 7 September 2024).

The Antique was screened on 6 September after Venice Days had cancelled two earlier scheduled screenings after a decree by the Court of Venice, obtained by the companies Viva Film (Russia), Avantura Film (Croatia), and Pygmalion (Cyprus). But the court decree was overturned when Venice Days stepped in to defend the filmmaker and presented a counterclaim to the Court of Venice.

Speaking out earlier in the festival the director of the film Rusudan Glurjidze said she was being censored because of the content of the film which is critical of the Russian government. The film was shot in St Petersburg just before the outbreak of the war in the Ukraine and is about the mass deportations of Georgians from Russia in 2006.

The film, starring 2024 European Shooting Star Salome Demuria alongside Sergey Dreyden, Vladimir Daushvili and Vladimir Vlovichenkov, is a coproduction between Georgia, Switzerland, Finland and Germany, and it has been acquired by Paris-based MPM Films ahead of its world premiere in the competition of the 21st Giornati degli Autori section within the Venice Film Festival (28 August – 7 September 2024). 

The Antique was produced by Georgia’s Cinetech, Switzerland’s Cinetrain, Finland’s Whitepoint Digital and Germany’s Basis Berlin Filmproduction. The project was financed by the Georgian National Film Center, as well as through private investment.

Rusudan Glurjidze’s debut feature House of Others was the official candidate from Georgia for the Academy of Motion Pictures Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2016.

The 2025 Oscars shortlists will be announced on 17 December 2024, the nominations will be unveiled on 17 January 2025 and the Academy Awards ceremony will take place on 2 March 2025.