Four nominations, 14 different sections and almost 100 Georgian and foreign films of different genres and subjects, most having already been recognized and awarded in many international festivals – this is how the 23rd Tbilisi International Film Festival starts in Tbilisi.

This year European non-commercial cinema is again in the focus of the Tbilisi Festival. The Festival includes a competition of Georgian feature films and documentaries to be judged by an international jury, and the winners will be awarded with the festival’s "Golden Prometheus". Agnieska Holland, president of the European Film Academy, will also get her Golden Prometheus for her special contribution to cinematography.

The EU has been supporting the Tbilisi International Film Festival. At the initiative of the EU Delegation office in Georgia, there will be a special festival category where the EU will offer its prize to the best human rights film. "EU Human Rights in Film" is the name of the award established on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day. The winner will be symbolically announced on the very day, December 10, at the closing ceremony of the festival.

The EU prize nominee films differ in their topics and present important human rights stories, including the story of a girl admitted to a drug rehabilitation center, confrontation and friendship of young people from different classes and societies, the influence of the political and religious elite on the population, and the stories of war-stricken women.

Ten films have been nominated, and there will be one winner selected by the spe.cial jury (Theo Khatiashvili, Basti Mgaloblishvili, Tamar Gurchiani):

• Close/ახლოს - Lukas Dhont, Belgium/France/Netherlands, 2022
• Boy from Heaven/ბიჭი სამოთხიდან - Tarik Saleh, Sweden/France/Finland/Denmark/Morocco, 2022
• Immaculate/უმანკო - Monica Stan, George Chiper-Lillemark, Romania, 2021
• Saint Omer/სენ-ომერი - Alice Diop, France, 2022
• How is Katia?/კატია როგორ არის? - Christina Tynkevich, Ukraine, 2022
• Klondike/კლონდაიკი - Maryna Er Gorbach, Ukraine/Turkey, 2022
• Lord of the Ants/ჭიანჭველათა ბატონი - Gianni Amelio, Italy, 2022
• Plan 75/გეგმა 75 - Chie Hayakawa, Japan/France/Philippines, 2022
• Burning Days/მწველი დღეები - Emin Alper, Turkey/France/Germany/Netherlands/Greece, 2022
• A Room of my Own/ჩემი ოთახი - Ioseb (Soso) Bliadze, Georgia/Germany

The festival organizers say that the EU has been supporting them for many years and has significantly contributed to the festival’s development.

In addition to films shown as part of the competition and beyond, the festival will be traditionally full of professional meetings, workshops, master classes, retrospectives and other events.

The Prometheus Center for Cinematographic Art has been organizing the Tbilisi International Film Festival since 2000, and the goal is to present new outstanding foreign and Georgian films, to share new trends in the world cinematography, and to promote the development of the Georgian film industry.

The festival takes place in four different halls of "Amirani" cinema. The closing and awards ceremony will take place on December 10, and Dito Tsintsadze's "Roksi” will close the 23rd Tbilisi International Film Festival this year.

About Human Rights Week

Human Rights Day, observed annually on 10 December, marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This year, we mark the 74th anniversary. The Declaration serves as the foundational blueprint to stand up for and defend human rights. It sets out a broad range of fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all of us, everywhere around the world, are entitled. It grants the rights of every individual, without distinction based on nationality, gender, national or ethnic origin, religion, language, or any other status.

More information: https://eu4georgia.eu/human-rights-week-2022/