For a festival that had to delay its start by over a month last year because of the outbreak of hostilities between Georgia and Russia, 4th Batumi International Art House Film Festival must have been the most relaxed and enjoyable gathering in the city’s annual calendar. But this festival, with its fascinating programme and a friendly atmosphere plays an important part of a serious attempt to rebuild Georgian film culture after its collapse post-1989.

Batumi International Film Festival (21-28 September 2009) is a competition festival, which this year attracted films from over 25 countries including: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cuba, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Holland, Italy, Iran, Latvia, Lebanon, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, UK and USA. Over the past four years the festival hosted many Georgian masters, namely Otar Koberidze, Rezo Esadze, Irakli Kvirikadze, Mikhael Kobakhidze, Nana Djordjadze, as well as foreign filmmakers and scriptwriters: Pascal Aubier, Manijeh Hekmat, Paweł Pawlikowski, Cezary Harasimowicz, among others. After Tbilisi International Film Festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, Batumi is the second film festival in the country and in its favour was keen but level-headed sense of Georgian identity, reflected in a committed and supportive audience.

The festival of the festivals of the festivals…

This year’s International Jury was led by the Dutch filmmaker Jos Stelling, whose wonderfully dry sense of humour could be seen in Duska (Netherlands/Russia/Ukraine, 2008), the festival’s opening night film. This simple story of a middle-aged man’s (film critic Bob, played by Gene Bervoets) fascination with a cheeky and manipulative young girl (Sylvia Hoeks) is also a subtle critique of film business, where a certain film festival (‘of the festivals of the festivals’) becomes a signifier of film critics’ degraded minds.  

This year’s Grand Prix was awarded to Siddik Barmak’s Opium War (Afghanistan, 2008) – a surreal tale about the conflict in Afghanistan. The best feature film went to Michal Rosa’s Scratch (Poland, 2008), a story of a middle-aged marriage is destroyed by a ‘ghost’ of the secretive and deceptive life of Poland under Communism. Volchok, a tragic story of the rejection of a daughter by her mother by Vasili Sigarev (Russia, 2009) won this year’s the Best Director award. One of the strongest features of BIAFF is its emphasis on documentary and here Petr Lom’s Letters to the President (Canada/France, 2009) won the Best Documentary award. The film follows ordinary citizens of Iran who write letters to President Ahmadinejad in hope for the betterment of their situation. But what comes to the surface is Iran’s division between those who believe in the President and the ones who do not. The Living (dir. Sergiy Bukovsky, Ukraine, 2008), a documentary about 1930s famine in Ukraine received a Special Jury Prize, while a touching story of Georgian women working in America, The Women from Georgia (dir. Levan Koguashvilli, Georgia, 2008) was granted a special mention for its treatment of subject-matter and a subtle portrayal of Georgian mentality and culture.

It was a true joy to watch a modest Batumi-born Megi Kobaladze receiving the Best Actress award for her role as a prostitute in Özcan Alper’s Autumn (Germany/Turkey, 2008), a drama about a young student activist (Onur Saylak) released from prison after 10 years. For his creation of a subdued cafй owner Mr Soleimani in Twenty (dir. Abdolreza Kahani, Iran, 2009), Parviz Parastui received the Best Actor prize. An additional Special Mention was given to Zift (dir. Javor Gardev, Bulgaria, 2009) for its startling cinematography.

BIAFF’s tradition is to grant two lifetime achievement awards and this year these went to Jos Stelling and the Georgian master Mikheil Kobakhidze, whose entrancingly humane but delicate comedies featured as a part of his retrospective. Nana Djordjadze’s fairy tale-like piece The Rainbow Maker (Finland/Germany/Netherlands/Italy/Russia, 2008) is an imaginative love story, reminiscent of Fellini’s 8 ½ and a perfect film to close the festival with. The festival’s main venue Cinema Tbilisi enjoyed full house at all times, but the record must have been the night of Lars von Trier’s Antichrist (Denmark/Germany/France/Sweden/Italy/Poland, 2009). Film buffs were surprised by unexpected treats, such as Sashka the reformist (dir. Vasilij Dombrovskij, Ukraine, 2009), a short silent film about Aleksandr Dovzhenko.

But what remains the unique feature of BIAFF is its representation of films from countries such as Azerbaijan, Armenia as well as showcasing Georgian cinema and this year we could enjoy films by masters such as Nana Djordjadze, Irakli Kvirikadze and Mikheil Kobakhidze.

Young Filmmakers at BIAFF

BIAFF is definitely growing and this year saw creation of a new strand: The Young Filmmakers’ Section. Its Jury, headed by a legendary Georgian filmmaker Irakli Kvirikadze, granted the Grand Prix to Narges Abyar’s poetic and unsentimental account of an old man attachment to his camel One Day After the 10th Day (Iran, 2008). The Best Feature went to Because There Are Things We Never Forget (dir. Lucas Figueroa, Spain, 2009). The Special Mention  went to Blöessam (dir. Tess Löwenhardt, Netherlands, 2009) and a new award: the SANGUKO film studio prize ‘The new vision’ was given to yet another Iranian film The First Film by Panah Panahi (Iran, 2008). Agnieszka Smoczyńska received the prize of the Best Director for Aria Diva (2007).

This section of the festival was designed to offer a new network of opportunities to young Georgian filmmakers, since BIAFF’s mission is much wider than being just a film festival: its aim is to awaken cinema culture in Batumi. Its organizers are doing everything to make it happened: Zviad Eliziani, Fesival Manager, informs that there are plans for opening a new film club in Batumi and possibly organizing international workshops and master classes, which could help the local audiences and students to gain more knowledge and help to raise the festival’s profile through possible collaborations with various institutions all over the world.

BIAFF values Polish cinema 

Each year there seem to be no shortage of the Polish programme at the festival. This year’s BIAFF celebrated Krzysztof Zanussi’s 70th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his work in cinema. The screening of Zanussi’s latest film  And a Warm Heart (Poland, 2008) went hand in hand with Stanisław Zawiśliński and Sławomir Rogowski’s documentary about the director, Krzysztof Zanussi: Essential Conversations (Poland, 2009). In addition, there was also an exhibition: Krzysztof Kieslowski Rediscovered, supported by the Museum of Cinematography in Łódź and screenings of many more Polish films: Three Colours: Red (dir.Krzysztof Kieślowski, France/Switzerland/ Poland, 1994), 4 Nights with Anna (dir.Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/France, 2008), Sweet Rush (dir.Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 2008). This year’s BIAFF also celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Documentary and Feature Film Studio in Warsaw, with the screening of the Golden Classics and Jacek Petrycki’s latest documentary City without God (Poland, 2009) at its forefront.

How did it all start?

Batumi International Art House Film Festival grew out of the initiative called Art in Residency, which in 2006 gathered artists and musicians from Kazahstan, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Georgia.  The money was provided by the Soros Foundation, which founded the 2003 Rose Revolution to encourage democratization in Georgia. BIAFF was established in 2006 as a part of Batumi Art House Argani, which is main organizer of the festival. Batumi Art House itself was established by BIAFF founders (Giorgi Gogiberidze and Zviad Eliziani) as non-governmental organization working in the filed of art and culture. The festival’s main aim is to popularize cinema, develop cultural relationships between countries and create a professional network for the filmmakers. The festival has a number of outside programmers and advisors: Christopher Kamyszew (the Director of Chicago International Documentary Film Festival) is BIAFF’s major Programme adviser and Andrzej Słowicki, once the President of the famous film club ‘Kwant’ in Poland, is the festival’s Artistic Co-director, in charge of the retrospectives and non-competition screenings. Impressive was also the enthusiasm of all volunteers, whose knowledge of film and kind support cannot go unnoticed.

In his welcoming speech Giorgi Gogiberidze, the festival’s Director underlined  the fact that BIAFF was called to life to promote art cinema. ‘The beginnings were not easy’, points out Eliziani but he adds quickly that the festival is growing each year, the support is more generous and thanks to that perspectives are widening. The Mayor of Batumi, Robert Chkhaidze also recognizes the festival’s importance not only to the growth of the city itself but to the development of cinema culture in Batumi. In his note from the festival’s catalogue the Mayor states that ‘the number of audiences and guests is growing every year’. Chkhaidze reassures that this financial support will continue and I am told that since last year Batumi city hall already tripled the budget.

It is important to mention that due to its political circumstances (the 2003 Rose Revolution to displace the President Eduard Shevardnadze and the recent war with Russia) there was no cinema in Batumi. The main festival’s venue, Cinema Tbilisi was only opened in 2004…Yet 2012 is to see the opening of a large multiplex cinema, which would decrease the festival’s difficulties with projection quality.

Georgia, mon amour…

Time moves at a slow but steady pace in Georgia…As a picturesque Black Sea resort, wine and food paradise, with wonderfully hospitable people, the place is a perfect festival location. One forgets that in the old days Stalin built his career as a ‘revolutionary’ gangster here, robbing major banks of Batumi…

Film critics and historians know that Georgian cinema was especially active during the Soviet period but all this changed in the 1990s, when the film production collapsed. Nowadays Georgia produces between 4 and 5 feature films a year, many of which are also co-productions. With names such as Sergei Parajanov, Otar Iosseliani, Nana Janelidze, Nana Djordzjadze and many others, it is hard to ignore the fact that the country has always had a strong cinema culture.

Kamila Kuc

Curator and writer