Dir: Alexandre Tsutsunava | Georgia, Silent, Historical drama 190′
On the final night of the festival, on 21st July, we took to the deckchairs in Mestia’s main square to watch this dazzling snapshot of Georgian history.
According to sources, the 1920s was one of the most significant decades for Georgian cinema in terms of aesthetics and channelling the ideology of the era. Director Alexandre Tsutsunava (Qristine,1916, Who Is at Fault?/1925, Khanuma 1926, Two Hunters,1927) was one the first Georgian feature directors and studied at Moscow Art Theatre School before honing his filmmaking craft under Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko.
In A Rebellion in Guria Tsutsunava makes use of national motifs and artfully draws on his experience as a theatre and opera director to conjure up the seething sentiments of the Georgian ‘peasants’ who mounted a wide scale revolt against Russian colonialism in 1847.
Based on Egnate Ninoshvilli’s novel this three hour historical epic features spectacular battle set pieces and impassioned performances from A Mesniaev, K. Eristavi and I Korsunskaya chronicling the rebellion that took place in western Georgia during. @MeredithTaylor