TBILISI: The first edition of the Kutaisi International Short Film Festival, which was postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is finally taking place in a physical format 8–12 May 2021, in compliance with the state regulations regarding the safety of participants. The festival is supported by the Georgian National Film Center and the Kutaisi Municipality.

TBILISI: Legendary Georgian actor Kakhi Kavsadze (85) died of Coronavirus complications on 27 April 2021. Kavsadze was a leading actor at the Shota Rustaveli State Drama Theatre and starred in over 90 films.

TBILISI: Cinemas in Georgia, which have been closed since mid-March 2020, will re-open at 50% of their capacity on 8 April 2021.

TBILISI: Alexander Koberidze’s feature film What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?, which had its world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, has been acquired by the world sales company Cercamon.

TBILISI: Tea Tsulukiani was appointed by the Parliament as the Minister of the newly created Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia on 19 March 2020. Tsulukiani will take office on 22 March .

TBILISI: Salome Jashi’s documentary film Taming the Garden has been acquired by the film-distribution company Dogwoof for the UK. Toronto-based Syndicado Film Sales brokered the deal.

TBILISI: The Georgian National Film Center is in the midst of a major programme to restore some of the earliest films by Georgian filmmakers.

TBILISI: The German/Georgian coproduction What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? by Alexander Koberidze will vie in the main competition of the Berlinale, which will hold a special online edition 1 - 5 March 2021. The film is the first Georgian production to screen in the main competition in three decades.

TBILISI: Georgia was strongly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, which shut down cinemas and film production for most of 2020, but Georgian films received new awards at international festivals. Georgian cinema days and retrospectives were held in Brussels, Tallinn, Split and Lisbon, and Georgia was the Focus Country at the 2020 Trento Film Festival.

TBILISI: Georgian film director Soso Chkhaidze's TV series/feature film Shvidkaca is being completed posthumously almost 30 years after the director’s death, and more than 40 years after he began filming. The film, whose working title is the word used to describe folk ensembles, is in the final phase of post-production. Principal photography took place In Tbilisi, Guria villages, Moscow and Stockholm from 1979 to 1987. The producer is Chkhaidze's widow, Nana Zurabishvili.