Georgia Chooses Film to Send to the Oscars

For the 2018 Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, Georgia has selected the film Namme as its submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category. The selection was made by a jury vote in Tbilisi, beating out five other films.

Apart from Namme, the short list included: Horizon directed by Tinatin Kajrishvili, Khibula directed by George Ovashvili, Dede directed by Mariam Khatchvani, Ekvtime: Man of God directed by Nikoloz Khomasuridze, and Hamlet directed by Giorgi Megrelishvili.

Writer and director Zaza Khalvashi’s Namme premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival and made its national debut last year at the Tbilisi International Film Festival. The film follows the story of a young woman, Namme, in a Georgian high mountain village, tasked by her father to guard a healing spring. Conflict arises when a hydro power plant is slated to be built nearby – reflecting the current reality in several of Georgia’s mountain regions. Namme and her father clash when the spring suddenly dries up, and he insists that a sacrifice must be made for the water to return.

The film was a Georgian-Lithuanian co-production.

The trailer, with English subtitles, is available here.

By Samantha Guthrie