The Georgian Church on Screening of First Georgian Film about Gay Love

The Patriarchate of Georgia has released a statement about the screening of the first Georgian film depicting love between two homosexuals, titled "And Then We Danced".

The premiere of the film is scheduled for November 8-10 in Tbilisi and Batumi cinemas, however, the local right-wing and religious groups are mobilizing against it, as they believe that the movie undermines Georgian traditions and values.

The statement says the Georgian Orthodox Church is against promoting and legalizing the ‘Sodom Sin’, accordingly, they consider it unacceptable to show such a movie in cinemas. However, the Patriarchate also stresses that they strictly condemn any kind of violence and violent acts.

“There has been a big attack on the Church and national values. There are some forces that seem to be deeply disturbed by the authority of the Church, the love of the population for God and traditional values, and they use various methods to shake it.

"The Georgian Orthodox Church has always been and will continue to be categorically incompatible with the promotion and legalization of sin as well as sinful relationships. That is why we find it unacceptable to show such a movie in the cinemas.

"At the same time, we would like to point out that, just like before, we separate ourselves from violence and violent actions,” the statement reads.

The Swedish-Georgian film 'And Then We Danced' was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and received very positive feedback.

It has already claimed prestigious awards at various international film festivals. 

The plot tells of Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani) who has been training at the National Georgian Ensemble with his partner Mary (Ana Javakishvili). However, when Irakli (Bachi Valishvili) arrives, he becomes both his rival and strongest desire.

By Ana Dumbadze 

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