Ana Urushadze’s Scary Mother Named among Films of 2018 to Watch

Young Georgian filmmaker Ana Urushadze’s film Scary Mother is included in the list of recommended films to watch in 2018 by Calvert journal. 

In the article by Carmen Gray, Films of 2018, the ‘New East’ cinema you need to see this year featured Urushadze’s Scary Mother, alongside other films such as Malgorzata Szumovska (Mug); Estonian film director Lauri Lagle’s Portugal, Russian Alexey German Jr’s film Dovlatov, and Jan Svankmajer’s Insect, (Czech Republic). 

“The current buzz around Georgia’s national cinema is set to continue in 2018, with Director Ana Urushadze’s widely imaginative and surrealistic debut feature Scary Mother among the delights to watch for,” the article reads, noting the many awards the film has received, from Locarno’s Golden Leopard in the category of the Best First Feature, to winning the Sarajevo Film Festival Award for Best Feature film, and Best Director award at Gijon, Spain. Georgian actress Nata Murvanidze, who plays the leading role in the film, won an Asia Pacific Screen Award for best performance. 

“It challenges traditional gender roles with dark, playful humor; focusing on writer Manana (Nato Murvanidze), who has penned an erotic vampire novel, and is determined to get it published-despite opposition from her husband, who regards her imaginings as a personal affront,” the article reads, then quoting the film director, Ana Urushadze, who according to the piece is now working on the new script. 

“Just being in the moment and giving 100 per cent attention to each scene is the only rule for me when filming. The best days of my life were when I was shooting,” Ana Urushadze is quoted in the article.

Read the full article here

By Nino Gugunishvili