My English Grandfather (1986) anu chemi ingliseli Papa
Director Nana Djordjadze made the only Georgian film to be nominated for an oscar, A Chef in Love (1996). Her 1986 comedy, My English Grandfather also called Robinson Crusoe in Georgia hence Robinsoniada, was entered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and won the prestigious Caméra d'Or as a first feature. Djordjadze (born in 1948) graduated in architecture but started acting and then in 1974 enrolled in the film classes of Tengiz Abuladze and Irakli Kvririkadze in the Faculty of Film Direction at the Rustaveli State Theatre Institute, Tbilisi. Like other leading Georgian filmmakers of the time, Djordjadze left Georgia in the early 1990s and has made her home in Berlin.
Read more: My English Grandfather (1986) anu chemi ingliseli Papa
Keto and Kote introduced by Gela Charkviani
The earliest full-scale Georgian cinematic musical Keto and Kote (1948), based on the comic opera by Viktor Dolidze, was screened at the Georgian Embassy in April 2011, with the first showing of a newly restored print. Directed by Vakhtang Tabliashvili and Shalva Gedevanishvili, starring leading actors of different generations, such as Medea Japaridze, Veriko Andjaparidze, Vaso Godziashvili and Akaki Kvantaliani, the film features splendid music, choreography and humour.
In a wonderfully entertaining and fascinating introduction Gela Charkviani, the distinguished diplomat, TV personality and former Ambassador to the UK and Ireland, described how the Chattanooga Choo Choo did more for American diplomacy than the CIA ever could.
A Trip to Karabakh (Gaseirneba Kharabakhshi)
Winner of the 'Golden Vine' - Grand Prize at the CIS and Baltic States Festival. A collaboration between director Levan Tutberidze and writer Aka Morchiladze. It follows the journey of two young men from Tbilisi to Azerbaijanin search of drugs, who accidentally end up in war-torn Karabakh. This is a poignant and entertaining film about the futility of war and the contradictions and complexities of the South Caucasus. The film is being shown with English sub-titles. 105 minutes. Please email info@britishgeorgian society.org if you wish to attend.
Georgian Embassy 7.00pm Wednesday 12th October
4 Russell Gardens
London W14 8EZ
020 7603 7799
Kancheli at 'Little Georgia' 17 - 18 December 2011
Giya Kancheli is Georgia's leading composer.
Throughout his distinguished career, Giya Kancheli has written extensively for film and theatre and collaborated with many of Georgia's leading directors including Robert Sturua, Eldar Shengelaya and Georgi Danelia. A book of the composer's themes for stage and screen was published in 2009, 'Simple Music for Piano' with drawings by Rezo Gabriadze.
BGS is celebrating Kancheli's 75th year at London's exciting and newest Georgian Restaurant, Tinatin Tuskadze's Little Georgia. During the weekend, films with Kancheli scores will be screened and on Sunday evening the Georgian pianist Alisa Tavdidishvili will perform some of the 33 pieces from 'Simple Music for Piano' by Giya Kancheli.
Read more: Kancheli at 'Little Georgia' 17 - 18 December 2011
Salt White (Marilivit tetri) Film screening at Embassy 29 March 2012
Keti Machavariani's stunningly shot debut feature traces the intersecting peregrinations of three characters in a Georgian summertime resort on the Black Sea. Virtually plotless, Machavariani's film eschews all backstory, her characters' experiences inferred from their weary or defiantly deadpan faces. But the camera finds beauty in their passage: in the long-limbed walk of the waitress trekking from her daytime restaurant job to her nighttime bar gig, in the workaday rounds of an exiled Abkhazian cop, and in the breathless run of a homeless teenage girl, pursued by police. Prime fest fare, the insistent images signal a director to watch. Ronnie Scheib in Variety
A Gia Bazgadze, Levan Korinteli, Jaga Grip production with the support of the Georgian National Film Center. Produced by Gia Bazgadze, Levan Korinteli, Jaga Grip. Co-producer, Constantine Rizhinahsvili. Directed, written by Keti Machavariani. With: Nino Koridze, Gagi Svanidze, Fea Tsivadze, George Kipshidze. Georgian, 2011, English sub-titles, 80 mins.
Thursday March 29 at 7pm, Georgian Embassy, 4 Russell Gardens, London W14 8EZ
Botanical Introduction to Georgia
This fascinating talk by two speakers from the Botanical Gardens at Kew - Clare Trivedi and Guy Moore - was given at the Georgian Embassy on 12 July 2011.
'An Orphan in the Caucasus' - Talk by Donald Rayfield 17th November
'An Orphan in the Caucasus': the mysterious origins and connections of the Georgian Langauge
Donald Rayfield will discuss the relationship (proven and possible) between Georgian and other European, Anatolian and other Caucasian languages, and the way various theories have been manipulated over the last century or two.
Emeritus Professor of Russian at Queen Mary, University of London, author of 'The Literature of Georgia', editor-in-chief of 'A Comprehensive Georgian-English Dictionary' and having just completed a 'History of Georgia', Donald Rayfield is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and popular speakers at BGS events. Not to be missed by anyone interested in Georgia.
November 17th at 6.30pm in the Research Forum South Room at the Courtauld Institute.
Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 0RN
RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Our grateful thanks to the Courtauld Institute for making this event possible.
BGS Christmas Party and Kancheli Book Launch 18/12/2011
Go to Kancheli at 'Little Georgia' 17 - 18 December 2011 for full details. View summary of timings (as pdf).
Abkhazia - A Lost Paradise Talk by Oliver Bullough 25 April 2012
Award winning author and journalist Oliver Bullough will give a BGS talk on Wednesday 25 April, 6.30pm at UCL Bedford Way Building, Room 305. 26 Bedford Way, WC1H 0AP. Georgian wine will be provided after the talk.
Abkhazia is one of two bits of Soviet Georgia that declared independence after the collapse of communism. Although its independence has only been recognised by half-a-dozen countries -- among them, of course, Russia -- it is enough to prevent Tbilisi having any influence over what happens there.
So what is the root of the stand-off? Why do both Abkhaz and Georgians have such strong claims to ownership of this stretch of the Black Sea coast? Oliver Bullough has spent months in Abkhazia studying the history and traces the tale back to its origins.
Oliver Bullough is a journalist and author who specialises in the Caucasus. His book Let Our Fame be Great tells the history of the Russian conquest of the mountains, while his day job is to edit the Caucasus service of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. He is from Wales, studied history at Oxford University, and lived in Russia for seven years. He now lives in east London with his wife and son.
Past Events Archive
The past events from 2010 back to 2006 are available as PDFs