SYNOPSIS
The presidential palace of a war torn country falls to insurgent forces. The president flees, escorted by his PM and four guards. They advise the president to go abroad but the president refuses to leave his people behind. He wants to reach loyal troops that are rumored to wait for him in the remote village of Khibula. The journey is difficult: on foot through mountainous terrain and freezing cold. Enemy forces are chasing the president, remaining unseen and unheard but making sure the president knows they are after him. In Khibula there is no sign of loyal troops. The president begins to doubt the loyalty of his PM and guards. The physical journey becomes a spiritual journey towards a goal that is unknown to the men who have vowed to protect him. The role of his protectors becomes unclear: are they chasing him, protecting him from enemy forces or from himself? The president journeys higher into the mountains, chased by both his friends and his foes.
CAST & CREW
George Ovashvili
Director
Producer(s)
George Ovashvili, Eike Goreczka, Guillaume de Seille, Christoph Kukula
Script
George Ovashvili, Roelof Jan Minneboo
Director of Photography
Enrico Lucidi
Music by
Josef Bardanashvili
Sound
Sebastian Schmidt
Edit
Sun-Min Kim
Cast
Hossein Mahjoob, Kishvard Manvelishvili, Zurab Antelava, Nodar Dzidziguri, Galoba Gambarov
Production company(ies)
Alamdary Film, 42 film, Arizona Production
George Ovashvili
He studied at the Polytechnical Institute from 1981-1986. He is a graduate of the Georgian State Institute of Cinema and Theatre (1996) and The New York Film Academy at Universal Studios in Hollywood (2006). A stage actor at the State Theatre, he also directed plays for children and ran an advertising agency. The writer of a television program entitled Georgian Bulletin for a broadcaster in New York. He has directed a number of poignantly elegant shorts, most notably Eye Level (New York Film Academy Scholarship Award at Berlinale 2005, Special Prize of International Jury at Odense FF) and The Trolley (Special Prize of international jury at Kiev "Molodist" FF). His big-screen directorial debut The Other Bank (2009) was screened at more than 100 international film festivals in more than 50 countries and won about 50 prizes. Ovashvili’s second long feature - Corn Island (2014) has received Grand Prix - Crystal Globe at 49th Karlovy Vary IFF. Corn Island has been shortlisted among the 9 best films for 2015 year’s Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category. For this moment film was screened at more than 70 IFFs in different countries of the world and won 33 prizes.
Filmography
The Very Short Story (1993, short), The Trolley (1996, short), The Mirage (2000, short), Eye Level (2003, short), Serenade of Sunny Country (2004, short), Connection (2005, short), The Other Bank (2009), Corn Island (2014), Khibula (2017).
