20th Tbilisi International Film Festival kicks off
By Mariam Chanishvili
Tuesday, December 3
Tbilisi International Film Festival kicks off with its 20th edition. This year, the festival will present up to 100 films.
The opening took place on December 1 at Amirani Cinema with ‘Blackmail’ by British director Alfred Hitchcock, which was accompanied by Tbilisi Youth Orchestra, led by Mirian Khukhunishvili.
‘Blackmail’ is a part of the program British Season which is held in partnership with the British Council and British Embassy. British Season will screen classic and contemporary films.
This year, the 20th Tbilisi International Film Festival will only award the winners of the National Competition. Prizes will be given out in the following categories: The Best Feature Film, the Best Documentary, the Best Short film. The winner of all three of the categories will get a Golden Prometheus.
Within the framework of the Tbilisi International Film Festival, Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film Georgian State University presents a project Masters of Contemporary Cinema – Master class of Carlos Reygadas. Development of the idea and artistic concept of the future film, scriptwriting methods, pre-production period, peculiarities of working with actors, shooting process – these are the topics of the master class which will take place on November 3.
Honorary Prometheus for the special contribution to the world cinema will be awarded to Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadasand Georgian screenwriter and film director, Irakli Kvirikadze.
Carlos Reygadas is a Mexican film director, owner of national and international prizes and winner of numerous festivals, whose works stand out for a vivid style and extraordinary vision.
Tbilisi Film Festival also presents DepicT! – a 90-second short film competition. The aim of this competition is to discover emerging filmmakers with originality and rich imagination. The winner will go to the Bristol Film Festival.
German cinematographer Fred Kelemen, British screenwriter Christopher Hampton and director Clare People will visit the 20th Tbilisi International Film Festival as honorary guests.
The screening of 'Comets' (2014) by Georgian director Tamar Shavgulidze took place on December 2. The screening was followed by the meeting and discussions.
On December 4th, at 19:00, the Amirani Cinema (third Hall) will host Mari Gulbiani’s film 'Before Father Gets Back,' followed by a Q&A session with the director.
Mari Gulbiani was born in 1971 in Kutaisi, Georgia. After finishing her education in Philology at the Tbilisi State University, she studied film directing at the Georgian Shota Rustaveli University of Theatre and Film from 2001 to 2006.
Festival's partners are the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia, Tbilisi City Hall, British Council, The Delegation of the European Union in Georgia and National Broadcaster.
General sponsors are Adjara Group, TBC Status.
Tbilisi International Film Festival was established in 2000. The festival was born within a larger art festival 'Gift.'
