27-11-2015

Tbilisi International Film Festival press release

    On 30th of November at 19:30 in cinema “Amirani” the 16th Tbilisi International Film Festival will be opened with a premier of the film by Levan Tutberidze - “Moira”. The film tells us the story of a family living in a seaside city. After Mamuka is released from prison, he tries to rescue his family from poverty. His mother is working abroad, father is a wheelchair and his unemployed younger brother appears to be attracted by criminals. Mamuka takesa bank loan and buys a small fishing boat. But fate turns out to be ruthless.

    The opening of the festival will be attended by the Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia - Mikheil Giorgadze, City Mayor – Davit Narmania, the first lady - Maka Chichua, diplomatic corps and foreign cinematographs.

    The 16th International Film Festival this year is dedicated to the development of women's rights and gender democracy. Section ,,WomenEyes” covers full feature and documentary films made by women. Works of female directors will also be presented in other sections of the festival. This year’s festival has chosen violet colour, which represents the symbol of an international campaign to eliminate violence against women. In addition to screenings, we will hold discussions with the participation of local and invited speakers from the South Caucasus region about women's rights, gender-based violence and women as socially active figures.

    The most important part of the festival is an international competition, in which 10 European directors will participate with their full feature debut or second feature films. Traditionally the best film is awarded the Golden Prometheus, while the Silver Prometheus goes to the best director.

    The winners of the competition will be selected by the international jury. Head of the jury is Martha Fiennes, director of a feature film "Onegin", starring her brother, Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler.

    This year is the third time when National Contest is held within the framework of Georgian Panorama. But unlike previous years, this time it will include full feature,short and documentary films. Winners will be selected in following three categories: The best full feature film, the best short film and the best documentary. Members of the jury are: film expert and critic - Ulrich Gregor, film expert - Erika Gregor and film critic - Hossein Eidizadeh.

    The 16th Tbilisi International Film Festival will be closed on 5th of December by Dito Tsintsadze’s film “God of Happiness”. The supporters of the festival include the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, Tbilisi City Hall and the National Film Centre. The main sponsor of the festival is “Adjaranet”.