Film Course: Spotlight on Georgian Cinema

9/29/14 to 10/27/14

A five-week film course offered in conjunction with the series Discovering Georgian Cinema, gives you the opportunity to view 35mm archival prints and learn more about Georgian history, geography, and culture, as well as the stylistic traditions of Georgian cinema, from leading authorities.

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  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Upcoming
    Events
  • Selected
    Objects
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Films

  • Journey of Akaki Tsereteli to Racha and Lechkhumi & Salt for Svanetia

    Monday, September 29 1:10 pm
    BAM/PFA Senior Film Curator Susan Oxtoby provides a brief introduction to this five-week film course. Nana Janelidze, director of the Georgian National Film Center, then talks about her role in preserving an early treasure of Georgian national cinema, Journey of Akaki Tsereteli to Racha and Lechkhumi (1912), which depicts the legendary poet Akaki Tsereteli's journey to the mountainous areas of Western Georgia. Followed by Mikhail Kalatozov's classic Salt for Svanetia (1930), a haunting portrait of the difficult life in a village in the Caucasus cut off by snows from the outside world for most of the year. Session one of a five-session course. Course registration required.
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  • Pirosmani

    Giorgi Shengelaia
    USSR, 1969
    Monday, October 6 1:10 pm
    Susan Oxtoby lectures on “Cinema and the Arts in Georgia,” followed by a screening of Pirosmani, a poetic biography of the great Georgian primitive artist Nikoloz (Niko) Pirosmanishvili. This delicately expressive film received its North American premiere at BAM/PFA in 1974 and then went on to win the Grand Prize at the Chicago Film Festival and garner international critical acclaim. Session two of a five-session course. Course registration required.
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  • Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird

    Monday, October 13 1:10 pm
    Peter Rollberg, professor of Slavic languages, film studies, and international affairs at George Washington University, lectures on “The Poetics of Georgian Cinema.” Followed by The Singing Blackbird (Otar Iosseliani, 1971), a wry comedy, set in Tbilisi, about a young musician who is perpetually in a hurry and late for every appointment because his life is so full of chance encounters. Session three of a five-session course. Course registration required.
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  • The Wishing Tree

    Monday, October 20 1:10 pm
    Nino Dzandzava, of National Archives of Georgia, discusses challenges facing film archivists before a screening of The Wishing Tree (Tengiz Abuladze, 1977). The Wishing Tree is an episodic pastorale set in a pre-Revolutionary Georgian village that spans four seasons in the lives of various village characters. Some twenty-two stories are woven into the narrative, which centers on a beautiful young woman who is forced to marry a man she does not love. Session four of a five-session course. Course registration required.
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  • Course Wrap-Up and Selected Highlights

    Monday, October 27 1:10 pm
    For our final meeting, the Trio Kavkasia (Carl Linich, Alan Gasser, Stuart Gelzer) offers a demonstration of Georgian polyphonic music and Carl Linich will speak about characteristics of traditional folk songs. Susan Oxtoby wraps up the course with a talk illustrated with film clips. Session five of a five-session course. Course registration required.
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