The festival will open with Reinhold Messner’s documentary Nanga Parbat – Mein Schlüsselberg and it will close with the screening of Citizen Saint by Tinatin Kajrishvili, who is a member of the jury. Georgia’s candidate for the 96th Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the Best International Feature Film category was produced by Georgia’s Studio Artizm and Gemini, in coproduction with France’s Mandra Films and Bulgaria’s Chouchkov Brothers.

Barbara Gasser, Director of the Board of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is also a guest of the festival.

The short film The Frost and a Little Schoolboy (Georgia/Iran/Kyrgyzstan) directed by George Ovashvili will have its world premiere in the Short Film Competition, while the mountain-themed feature films competition includes six titles, including Romanian film Refuge / Castelul Crăiței by Liviu Mărghidan and Slovenian Maverick from the Edge by Igor Vrtačnik.

The festival was founded by the Mestia Centre of Culture, Arts NNLE and director/producer Khatuna Khundadze. It is supported by the Mestia Municipality, the Georgian National Film Center, Georgian Pharmaceutical Communications (GPC) and the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs of Georgia.

Mountain Film Competition for Feature Films:

Through Rocks and Clouds (Peru, Chile)
Directed by Franco García Becerra

Behind the Mist (Ecuador)
Directed by Sebastián Cordero

Refuge / Castelul Crăiței (Romania)
Directed by Liviu Mărghidan
Produced by Scharf Film Production
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre

The Allegory of the Cave (Argentina)
Directed by José David Apel

Oreste’s Hut (Italy)
Directed by Raffaella Tolicetti

Maverick from the Edge (Slovenia)
Directed by Igor Vrtačnik
Produced by Film Horizont