19th Tbilisi International Film Festival

This year’s 19th annual Tbilisi International Film Festival will be held from December 3 until December 9.  

A cinematic institution for nearly 20 years, the Tbilisi International Film Festival began in 2000.  Despite almost being shut down in 2002, the festival got back on track and gained more sufficient financial support in 2004 and has been a strong cultural and artistic platform ever since.  The goals of the festival are simple: to expose Georgians to high quality and artistic films from Georgia and the world and to educate them about new trends in the cinema industry. 

The institution has been a growing and improving one since its humble beginnings and now sees an increase in participating filmmakers every year.  This year guests will find a wide array of films and topics to discover.  

December’s festival will have many exciting features.  The film categories include, “Georgian Panorama”, “International Competition”, “The Horizons”, “Made in Germany,” and more, which will house films from Georgia and many other nations.  In addition, to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Baltic states, the program “Baltic-100” will highlight the cinematography of the Baltic countries—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.  Another program in a similar vein is “Bergman-100,” which will screen films from the critically acclaimed Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.  Such Bergman films will be “Wild Strawberries”, “Persona”, “Autumn Sonata,” and others.  However, Italy is the country on spotlight at the festival this year.  The audience will view and be informed about the latest films in Italian cinema.  

The Tbilisi International Film Festival is becoming a consistently successful and strong force in the world of cinema.  In conjunction with the film screenings, the festival will also include meetings, workshops, and masterclasses.  The festival exposes Georgians to its own cinema and cinema across the globe, and this year’s festival is no different.  

By Shirin Mahdavi