Between Constraints and Freedom
Poetry and Realism in Georgian Film
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Georgia has produced an extraordinarily lively film scene and many innovative artists. In the 1920s, Georgians made groundbreaking silent films under the influence of the avantgarde. Under the doctrine of Socialist Realism, Georgian film in the 1930s and 1940s yielded compliant monumental films and eulogies to Stalin, but its heyday came in the 1950s and 1960s. The specific lyrical undertone of this era resulted not only from the pressure of censorship, but from the expression of a particular mentality as well. After Georgia’s independence, Georgian film found itself in an identity crisis. Most recently, primarily female directors have been inventing film anew.
(Osteuropa 7-10/2015, pp. 613–630)