'Life Through Cinema' Georgian Film Festival, London

Exclusive Interview

GEORGIA TODAY spoke to Keti Japaridze and Jason Osborn, the brains behind ‘Life Through Cinema,’ the annual Georgian film festival held in London. Now in it’s fifth year, it will run from 1 – 8 May and celebrates Georgian culture, from the food, wine, and music to the 100th anniversary of the short-lived first Georgian Republic, and contemporary issues of identity and society.

IS IT A FILM FESTIVAL WITH A FOCUS ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST GEORGIAN REPUBLIC?

Jason Osborn: We’re showing this amazing footage which is called the Independence Chronicles, shot by a newsreel company at the time. It shows the arrival of various European socialists – including Ramsay MacDonald – to Georgia and it also shows the handover of power from the French and the British to the Georgians in about 1919 or 1920. I think the quality of these films gives a very European feel to Tbilisi and Georgia at the time. Obviously, the first Republic only lasted three years, but one of the things that interests me in terms of Georgia’s development is that it was always struggling to be more European compared to what the Soviets demanded, and if you flash forward to the last twenty years since independence, you see that film-making has become much more Western; much more interested in individuals; people’s freedoms. I think it is a statement on how its culture was not lost; it fought on.

Keti Japaridze: Of course, we wanted to do a festival anyway but this way it has a purpose; it’s a celebration. The first Republic was three years of constant celebration which ended in a bad way. This anniversary is very important. Because of difficulties in Georgia, we were never able to learn about it. We were never taught the history of this period until after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but then there was never time to reflect on it. In a way, the festival exists to provide a platform for discourse. It was the first time Georgia had a social-democratic government, which is something to think about.

YOU’RE SHOWING A FILM FROM THE PERESTROIKA ERA, TOO?

JO: We have Eldar Shengelaia, who is now in his eighties, coming for the festival. He made a very important film in 1983 which is called Blue Mountains: a satire on Soviet bureaucracy made even earlier than Perestroika.

KJ: It had an impact; it’s a comedy about how the system is collapsing along with reality.

JO: In a sense, it refers to the 1920s film ‘My Grandmother’ which was similarly anti institutionalized bureaucracy. We’re showing Nana Djordjadze’s film ‘My English Grandfather’ from the Perestroika period which was, I think, her first feature film and used a lot of footage from the Independence Chronicles, which the Russians had tried to suppress, particularly the scenes of General Kvinitadze being celebrated before…well, he put up quite a good fight against the Red Army! Parts of Nana’s film shows this footage; very much a barb to the Soviet authorities, and emblematic of Perestroika. I thought that was an important point to fix on in the context of the 100-year anniversary.

KJ: The generation which experienced that loss of independence is seen in the film, and it’s almost like a mirage. The film is a piece of history from the 20th Century. It’s eccentric and beautiful, like Georgia.

AND IT’S NOT JUST FILM. THERE’S A POP-UP RESTAURANT? JOHN WURDEMAN IS MAKING AN APPEARANCE?

KJ: He’s an artist who came to Georgia, and we wanted to showcase Georgia: food-making; table-making. Georgian parties are a form of art really, and it’s something very unique. John Wurdeman is really associated with the culture…

JO: And it’s not just John; he’s bringing four chefs and four singers. In the sense of the renaissance of Georgian film-making (recognized in international film festivals), Georgians are finding a voice. It’s the same with the food and wine. There’s been a revival, and there’s a lot of food and wine in Georgian film. We want to contextualize some of the cultural aspects, like the toasting or the way that the songs work. I’m hoping that this will be understood in combination with the films. There’s great interest in Georgia, and the festival wants to build on that.

TELL US ABOUT THE EXHIBITION OF GEORGIAN FILM POSTERS

JO: Nino Dzandzava is a deputy of the Georgian National Archive, which has a lot of Georgian film posters. I think a lot of them were commissioned by the state, which is probably why they have them, and she’s made a lot of them available to be brought to the UK. They’re very visual and show the way the Georgian’s think, how they comment on society, and we’re delighted that she’s coming.

WILL THIS BE THE FIRST TIME THEY HAVE BEEN EXHIBITED HERE?

JO: I think probably anywhere!

KJ: It’s an emerging thing; they sell this type of poster on street markets now: it’s retro, but to have them all together is quite remarkable.

JO: We’re going to have two or three talks during the festival: one on the 1918 – 1921 period; one on Perestroika; and one on the cultural freedom found in Tbilisi now. To take one example, there’s a new club there that has a gay night, and one of the films we’re showing is about a transgender character. There’s a new-found sense of freedom and the youth are expressing that, whatever it may be. Also, Post Harvey Weinstein, there’s been a real self-examination about a lack of female representation. It’s the case in Georgia that there are a lot of female directors, and we have quite a few of them coming. Two of the really good new films are, Scary Mother (Ana Urushadze) and My Happy Family (Nana Ekvtimshivili), which is about a woman who questions her role and wants to move out of it. They’re interesting issues at the moment, and not just in terms of Georgia.

Robert Edgar, London