War was invented by people to revenge. When it begins, it destroys everyone and everything around. It doesn't matter which side is right. It brings only corpses, ruined cities and pain. There are no winners in war - only losses and wounded are counted there. The buzz of bullets remains in people's memory for a long time. The most bitter is the war between brothers: it feels like you are cutting off part of your body and bleeding. Giorgi Barabadze's film, "Sokhumi" (2025) tries to convey this merciless and devastating national tragedy onto the screen. Many films have been made about the Abkhazian war and directors have always...

The depiction of loneliness in cinema is well-adapted and the ways of expressing it are diverse. Directors try to convey characters’ feelings in various ways, since such topics are often successful at international film festivals. Some directors manage to do this particularly subtly, expressing inner loneliness gently, others less deeply, although almost all works have the power to give the viewer the opportunity to think. Especially appreciated are those directors who tenderly present the emotional difficulties of a person's inner state in a way that loneliness does not turn into just a spectacle but becomes a bridge between the viewer and the character. Bakur Bakuradze's film, "Snow In My Yard" (2025) observes two people’s inner ...

A difficult socio-political situation developed in Georgia after gaining independence. In the country there appeared lost territories, refugees, marginalized people excluded from family and society and immigrants who went to different countries to earn a living. The reflection of this diverse range of problems in Georgian cinema began with its usual superficiality. Authors limited themselves to only certain accents and concentrated on issues that were painful and urgent for society. Just as in the Georgian documentary of the previous period (1970-1980), the tendency to “aestheticize” the problem remained relevant. Georgian film director Levan Koguashvili creates his interesting works in a style that differs from this tendency. An interest in his work arose from his very first films which is partially conditioned ...

At the 26th Tbilisi International Film Festival, the young Georgian director Vakho Jajanidze made his debut with the film “The Real Beings” (2025), the script of which was written based on Teona Dolenjashvili’s story. The author worked on this project (a Georgian-Italian co-production) for six years. The film tells the story of two holiday-maker families at one of the resorts. They meet at breakfast, when it turns out that they are old acquaintances of each other. Due to the unpopularity of the location, they are the ...

Tbilisi in the autumn of 1952. Sololaki area. Davitashvili (present Amagleba) Street. An old vinyl is spinning and the sound of music is heard from somewhere, in the distance. Boys are playing football in the street. A car passes here and there. It is either an overloaded trunk, or a brand-new, shiny "Pobeda," or a war-torn American "Studebaker." As soon as the children hear the sound of the engine of any car, they stop the game and chase it with a babble. Suddenly, the car turns a corner and a large poster appears on the wall. It depicts a blond-haired leader worker. She is punching a grumpy American uncle, who is dropping a stack of stolen dollars. The poster has the inscription: Долой американский империализм! ("Down with American imperialism!"). Ramaz (Buba) Khotivari’s film story begins with such ...

Tato Kotetishvili’s full-length film, “Holy Electricity” (2024), which is both a feature and a documentary creates a hybrid cinema. This is not an overly decorated, artificially sophisticated or scripted work. On the contrary, the director takes a very simple and seemingly everyday story, which is the reason why the film ultimately turns out to be natural and human. It begins with the scene of Gonga’s father’s funeral. The camera calmly follows traditional Georgian customs without excessive drama. Here Kotetishvili’s main approach is visible – cinema ...

A Czech photographer Miroslav Tichý said: “If you want to take a real photograph, then you have to have a bad camera.” This phrase was the cornerstone of his creative philosophy, as he was known not only for his creativity but also for the camera he built his own hands from cardboard parts with. After watching Aleksandre Koberidze’s film “Dry Leaf” (2025), one really got the feeling that this director is influenced by the philosophy of the legendary Czech photographer. This film was shown at the 26th Tbilisi International Film Festival. The cinema hall was full of viewers to see another masterpiece of Georgian cinema, which shows a 186-minute amazing journey...