03-12-2021

FNE at Tbilisi IFF 2021: Otar's Death

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    Otar’s Death by loseb "Soso" Bliadze Otar’s Death by loseb "Soso" Bliadze

    TBILISI: Georgian director Ioseb Bliadze’s debut feature film Otar’s Death screens in the main competition of the 21st edition of the Tbilisi International Film Festival, which opened in an online format on 30 November 2020 and runs through 20 December. The films will be screened on the online platform Festival Scope and will be free for the public.

    The film is a coproduction between Georgia, Germany and Lithuania.

    Otar’s Death tells the story of Keti (36) and her son Nika (16), who find themselves in a difficult situation when Nika hits an old man in a car accident. The victim’s family promise to refrain from pressing charges against Nika if he compensates their loss in cash. Within a single day Keti has to raise a large amount of money to prevent her son Nika from being imprisoned. An unexpected turn gives the drama a tragicomical air.

    Otar’s Death is our first feature as main producer. I am convinced Otar’s Death is a strong local and universal story at the same time, able to move people beyond their culture. The story’s background motif is lightly criminal and ironic: a tragic accident results in blackmail. In the film, Keti, the mother of the guilty party, has only 24 hours to come up with the money. Hence the plot. But the story unfolds much more than the characters’ desperation to find the money. Their actions in doing so are shaped by the lack of love and affection among them,“ Eva Blondiau told FNE.

    The main characters are played by Nutsa Kukhianidze, Iva Kimeridze,Marlen Egutia, Achi Makalatia and Eka Chavleishvili.

    The film was produced by Eva Blondiau through Georgia’s MAISIS PERI in coproduction with Color Of May from Germany, Studio Artizm (Lasha Khalvashi) from Georgia and M-Films (Marija Razgute) from Lithuania.

    The 330,000 EUR film received a production grant of 138,888 EUR / 400 000 GEL from the Georgian National Film Center in 2017, and it was also supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the Lithuanian Film Centre.

    Principal photography took place in Tbilisi and in the village of Lamovani (Dusheti) in September-October 2018. The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Karlovy Vary IFF.

    Production Information:

    Producer:
    Otar's Death by Ioseb Bliadze shootingMAISIS PERI (Georgia)

    Coproducers:
    Color Of May (Germany)
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    Studio Artizm (Georgia)
    M-Films (Lithuania)

    Credits:
    Director: Ioseb "Soso" Bliadze
    Scriptwriters: Ioseb "Soso" Bliadze, Elmar Imanov
    DoP: Dimitri Dekanosidze
    Production Designer - Bacho Makharadze
    Producer - Eva Blondiau
    Cast: Nutsa Kukhianidze, Iva Kimeridze,Marlen Egutia, Achi Makalatia and Eka Chavleishvili