Gagma Napiri
George Ovashvili
Tedo is only twelve but he has to grow up quickly. He has been living with his young mother in a hovel near Tbilisi, in Georgia, since war devastated Abkhazia – the province where they come from – after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Tedo is an apprentice in a small garage. He hangs out with other kids who live on the streets and commits small thefts in order to get a bit of money so his mother doesn't have to prostitute herself. When he was young, he experienced conflict, exile and the harshness of extreme poverty, until he decides to look for his father who stayed on "the other bank", in Abkhazia. That is when Tedo begins an initiatory journey in search of his roots, through a country ravaged by an ethnic conflict which left deep wounds which are still struggling to heal.
With : Tedo Bekhauri, Galoba Gambaria, Nika Alajajev, Archil Tabukashvili, Temo Goginava, Jano Izoria, Lia Abuladze
Screenplay : Shataidze, Rustam Ibragimbekov, George Ovashvili
Image : Amir Assadi
Editing : Kim Sun-min
Sound : Vladimir Golovnitski, Nezamedin Kiaiev
Music : Josef Bardanashvili
Screenplay : Shataidze, Rustam Ibragimbekov, George Ovashvili
Image : Amir Assadi
Editing : Kim Sun-min
Sound : Vladimir Golovnitski, Nezamedin Kiaiev
Music : Josef Bardanashvili
Production : George Ovashvili, Sain Gabdullin, The Kino Company // 176 Al-Farabi str. Almaty, Kazakhstan // Tel : +7 7272 93 29 78 // Email : kinocompany@mail.ru
Co-production : Arizona Films // 5, bd Barbès 75018 Paris, France // Tel : +33 (0)954525572 // Email : benedicte@arizonafilms.net
Distribution: Arizona Films // 5, bd Barbès 75018 Paris, France // Tel : +33 (0)954525572 // Email : benedicte@arizonafilms.net
Co-production : Arizona Films // 5, bd Barbès 75018 Paris, France // Tel : +33 (0)954525572 // Email : benedicte@arizonafilms.net
Distribution: Arizona Films // 5, bd Barbès 75018 Paris, France // Tel : +33 (0)954525572 // Email : benedicte@arizonafilms.net
George Ovashvili studied at the Geopgia Institute of Cinema and Theatre (1996) then at the New York Film Academy and Universal Studios in Hollywood (2006). He has produced several shorts, in particular Zgvis Donidan (Eye Level), presented at the Berlinale and the Odense International Fesstival, and Wagonette. Gagma Napiri (The Other Bank) is his debut on the big screen as both director and producer. I'd been looking for a story for my first feature for a long time. Finally, I found a short story by a Georgian writer, Nugzar Shataidze. It was based on a true story of a young boy who, following his exile, tried to find his father who had stayed in Abkhazia. This is the subject which drove me to write this script. Tedo belongs to the generation, which was forced to mass displacement because of the civil war in Abkhazia, one of the most beautiful regions of Georgia. The civil war took away everything Tedo had, even hope. The film is about the internal drama of a little boy, his thoughts, feelings, passions, sorrows and efforts to take arms against the difficulties. Everything else in the film serves as a background to this main theme. The Other Bank is my first full-length feature film.