Joining the 6th edition of the DALI Svaneti International Film Festival as a jury member for its Work-in-Progress section, long-time advocate of cinema from the Global South Marco Müller, Marco Müller believes the Caucasus could become a vital meeting point for emerging filmmakers from the region. In Svaneti, we spoke with him about the event’s potential, the importance of discovering projects before they are made and the crisis facing European film festivals.

Cineuropa: What brought you to this boutique event in Svaneti?
Marco Müller: I first came to Georgia in 1984, and I have always thought it would be an ideal meeting place for films from the region. It is obviously part of Europe, but at the same time its economic and cultural development is increasingly looking towards Asia. That position between worlds makes it a very interesting place.

Over the years, I discussed the possibility of creating a festival or workshop here with different investors, but nothing materialised. When the artistic director, Mariam Khatchvani, told me she was transforming the DALI festival into something much more specific and concrete, I couldn't refuse to participate.

Did you share your know-how with her?
The only advice I gave Mariam was to invite Amir Naderi. I was probably one of the first film professionals in Europe to systematically pay attention to Iranian cinema and to all the generations of filmmakers who are now recognised as major directors. When I met Abbas Kiarostami in the late 1980s, he spoke about Amir constantly. Later, when I was running IFFR, we screened one of Amir's wonderful films, Water, Wind, Dust (1989), which sadly has still not been restored. He is somebody who exists outside the official norms of the festival world.

What was your overall impression of the projects presented in the industry section of the Svaneti International Film Festival?
The event has a promising premise, especially considering it was put together in a relatively short time. What stood out was the freshness of the selection, particularly the bold, creative documentaries from Turkey, which offered a different perspective from the narrative features usually seen at established development platforms.

A great deal has been happening in Georgian cinema, while typically only one Georgian film every two or three years reaches the major festivals. Armenian films appear even less frequently, while Azerbaijan has rarely found its way onto the international scene. Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April, co-produced by Luca Guadagnino, is a great example. It shows that it's possible to generate international interest in the region and attract leading producers when the project is strong.

In this regard, I think the festival has the potential to become a key platform for discovering the region's most exciting new talent, much like in the legend of the Golden Fleece, in which gold was gathered from Georgia's rivers. To achieve that, I would encourage a stronger focus on the wider Caucasus, including Armenia, Turkey, the North Caucasus and Iran, while avoiding expanding too far beyond the region, for example into Central Asia, where there are already dedicated industry platforms. That clear regional identity is what could make the Svaneti gathering truly distinctive.

You currently teach cinema in China. What interests you most about the new generation of Chinese filmmakers?
One of the biggest challenges is that young filmmakers, like festivals themselves, often overlook cinema from the Global South. Most of my master's and PhD students mainly watch Chinese and American films, so I encourage them to look beyond the Western canon if they want to develop a new visual language.

At the same time, what is exciting is the emergence of new production models. Chinese directors are making remarkable films on very limited budgets, creating opportunities for dialogue with filmmakers across regions, from the Philippines to the Balkans.

Is that why you've invested so much energy in work-in-progress initiatives?

Absolutely. A festival should have two dimensions: one for completed films and another for films yet to be made. That's why project selection matters – you are identifying distinctive voices early, supporting directors and producers before production begins, and helping singular projects find the right path.

After decades directing major festivals, you've stepped back from the European circuit. How do you see the current festival landscape?
The situation is dramatic. I'm not speaking specifically about Cannes, because Cannes has shown resilience by refusing to fully embrace films from streaming platforms. But many other festivals are becoming simply the final stage of the promotional campaign for films that receive a brief theatrical release before moving almost immediately onto streaming services. Festivals were originally meant to reveal the market value of films beyond their immediate artistic qualities. When I was running Locarno, for instance, the purpose of the Piazza Grande wasn't to show films already acquired by Swiss distributors. We wanted to present films that distributors from Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe could still discover and acquire. And it worked.

Festivals should reveal the future of cinema, not become the last stop before streaming. Today, I feel many are betraying what their original mission should have been.