FILM: New film-making lab opens in Tbilisi

By Anna Rekhviashvili

Georgia Today, March 14 Although in the last few years Georgian film-making has started to move on slowly and several new movies have been made, we still hear a lot of complaints about the lack of available resources for the development of local cinema. A dearth of material or technical supplies can be a real obstacle for young and innovative producers to carry out their ideas and make new movies.
It is therefore welcome news for Georgian film fans that the well-known studio “Georgian Film” has opened a new film laboratory. For the last twenty years it has been practically impossible for producers to make a movie completely in Georgia, as there was no modern technology – or funding – for producing films. Some work was done abroad in places like Prague and Paris although this was naturally connected with extra expense and required extra time and energy. Recently however, “Georgian Film” acquired new equipment that is supposed to do the same job faster and more cheaply here in Tbilisi.
On March 4, the new studio officially opened and the first film was developed. The studio, which cost nearly half a million Euros, should present a new opportunity for Georgian movie makers. The organizers of the project say that they are now looking for young people with lots of energy and new ideas to make use of it.
According to one of the organizers Achiko Menagarishvili, there has been a break between the old and the young generation in film production. Their will is to connect this chain somehow, encourage young people to assist older and famous professionals, learn everything from them and add new spirit to their experience.
Just a week after opening, the laboratory is already working on a new film by Levan Tutberidze, director of the well-received contemporary Georgian film “Trip to Karabakh.” The working title of the movie is “I Love you Baby,” and it is going to be a kind of interpretation of “Paliashvili Street Dogs” by Aka Morchiladze.
The laboratory will not limit itself to working on new productions. They’re planning to restore a number of old Georgian documentary films, and turn them into modern quality products.
“The first movie we’re going to work on is the first Georgian documentary film – Akaki Shanidze’s ‘Travel in Racha-Lechkhumi,’ after which we will try to restore other movies one by one and make a new electronic archive,” said Achiko Menagarishvili.