New Georgian Cinema is a thematic focus section within the Croatian Film Critics’ Association’s program Criticism and Society, designed to foreground contemporary Georgian film production, with an additional focus on documentary film and documentary approaches. Together with guests from Georgia, the program will consider the presence of Georgian films at major international film festivals, the role of domestic festivals in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi, and open up relevant questions concerning the national and international reception of Georgian cinema.
This program aims to deepen the understanding of Georgia’s national social context and film scene, still relatively limited in Croatia. Although Georgia may seem distant from a Croatian context, the specific conditions of its film industry reveal notable parallels with those in Croatia, making comparison valuable. Ultimately, establishing direct dialogue between Croatian and Georgian film professionals broadens the horizons of both local practitioners and audiences.
Following a conversation with film critic and curator Liza Alpaidze, actor and writer Temo Rekhviashvili, and director Anka Gujabidze (joining via video link) moderated by curator Lucija Furač, the program concluded with the screening of Gujabidze’s film Temo Re (2025, 50’), the winner of the Tiger Short Competition Award and the KNF Award from the Circle of Dutch Film Journalists at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
In Gujabidze’s film, an unpretentious humor intersects with an unvarnished, critical view of contemporary Georgian reality, where urban and (semi-)rural worlds collide and social life is politically charged. The film follows Temo, an actor who traverses dozens of kilometers across Tbilisi each day while working as a delivery guy. The script is based on Rekhviashvili’s novel The Courier’s Tales, and he plays himself in the film, offering a piercing yet humorous black-and-white chronicle of the Georgian capital. The turbulent ride through a city both worn and splendid gradually turns into a nightmarish vision of poverty, corruption, and alienation.
Guests
Liza Alpaidze is a film critic based in Tbilisi. She is the co-founder of Es Aris Kino, an online platform dedicated to film and the film industry. She works as a selector and social media manager for the Kutaisi International Short Film Festival.
Temo Rekhviashvili is an actor and writer from Tbilisi. He is the initiator and co-founder of several cultural initiatives in Georgia (the Open Space for Experimental Art, Haraki Theatre, the secret society of poets YXXDP). The Courier’s Tales began as a blog series and was later published in the magazine Sitkvebi (Words).
Anka Gujabidze is a filmmaker and visual artist from Tbilisi. Before turning to film, she worked for more than a decade as a photographer, specializing in documentary, conceptual, and portrait photography. She holds a photography degree from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent and a BA in Animation from the Tbilisi State University of Theatre and Film.
The program took place on September 12, 2025, at Dokukino KIC in Zagreb, with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the City of Zagreb.
