19-05-2019

FNE at Cannes 2019: Georgian Cinema in Cannes

By Georgian National Film Center

    This is the fourteenth time that the Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC) will present the Georgian film industry pavilion at the Marche du Film this year - #103, Village International Riviera. The Georgian National Film Centre and the Government agency - LEPL “Enterprise Georgia” operating under the Ministry of Economy will jointly present an exhibit stand of Georgia.

    David Vashadze, Head of International Relations Department of the Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC), Tamar Tatishvili, a representative of Georgia at the EURIMAGES Council of Europe Cinema Support Fund and Lavan Lomjaria, Creative Europe Media Programme Manager, will be in charge of industrial aspects of the Pavilion.

    After 55 years, a restored version of the film “The White Caravan”, directed by Eldar Shengelaya and Tamaz Meliava, has been selected to be shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival along with films directed by Milos Forman, Luis Buñuel, Oliver Stone and other legendary film directors. The film “The White Caravan” was part of the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1964. 

    The film “The White Caravan” has been returned to Georgian as part of a historical process of getting back the Georgian film heritage preserved at the state archives of Russia “Gosfilmofond”, implemented by the joint effort of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia and the Georgian National Film Centre. Before the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, the National Archives restored the film using a 4K resolution film scanner and by transferring the film to a digital carrier. Simultaneously, the film has undergone colour and image correction and a sound cleanup.  

    The film director Eldar Shengelaya, together with Imeda Kakhiani – one of the leading actors of the film - will attend the premiere screening of the film “The White Caravan” at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

    The world premiere screening of the full-length feature film “And Then We Danced”, directed by Swedish filmmaker of Georgian origin - Levan Akin, will be held at the Cannes Film Festival. The film will be screened as part of the competition section “Director’s Fortnight”. The film “And Then We Danced” is a coproduction between a Georgian company “Takes Film” and a Swedish company “French Quarter Film”.

    The film tells the story of a young dancer, whose name is Merab and whose world turns upside down after another dancer becomes both his strongest rival and desire.

    The market screening of the film “Negative Numbers” directed by Uta Beria will be held on May 17th at 12pm in Palais E. Anyone who is interested to attend this private screening should get the invitations from the Wide management booth (Riviera G2).  

    A young Georgian film director – Giorgi Sikharulidze, currently working on the development of his debut feature film “Panoptikon” will participate in the Cannes Film Festival residence programme- Cinefondation. Presentation of the project of the film “Panoptikon” will take place at Gray d’Albion beach (CNC Beach), on May 16th, after which Giorgi Sikharulidze will continue working on his project within Torino Script Lab (TSL).

    Producers Network will host the Georgian producer - Lado Chikhradze and his future film project “Wedding on My Street” (Director: Shota Gamisonia). Lado Chikhradze will be present in Cannes from May 15th to May 20th in order to meet potential partners and co-producers.

    Important meetings with the representatives of Sundance, Tokyo, Locarno, Warsaw, Karlovy Vary and Berlin international film festivals are planned at the Georgian stand. Participants representing Georgia will be actively promoting filming locations in Georgia and the programme “Film in Georgia”.