The winners of the new Georgian national Eliso Awards, established by London-based actress Natalia Jugheli through the Nato Vachnadze Foundation, named after her great-grandmother, a pioneering actress of Georgian cinema, were revealed on 14 June in Gurjaani. Eliso is a 1928 silent film directed by Vachnadze’s husband, Nikoloz Shengelaia.

The awards, each worth circa €1,630 (5,000 lari), were given out in three categories. Last year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight hit Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Elene Naveriani
fiche film] emerged as the big winner, with Elene Naveriani winning Best Director and Eka Chavleishvili being crowned Best Actress. This way, the film repeated its feat from last year’s Sarajevo Film Festival, where the director and the actress won the same prizes (see the news). Meanwhile, Lomero Akhvlediani won Best Cinematography for his work on Luka Beradze’s documentary Smiling Georgia [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Luka Beradze
fiche film].

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“The Nato Vachnadze Foundation’s first project, the Eliso Awards, is a love letter to Nato’s husband, Nikoloz Shengelaia, and at the same time, it celebrates sisterhood, as Eliso was played by Natos’s sister Kira Andronikashvili, who was repressed by the Soviet Union,” Jugheli told Cineuropa.

“We wanted to present the awards this year, as it aligned with Nato Vachnadze's 120th birthday, and Gurjaani has a tradition of national celebration on her birth and death date – 14 June. Because we had little time, we decided to launch the awards with limited nominations, plus we wanted to support the filmmakers financially, which is very important in the present reality of the Georgian film industry. In the future, we will expand and include all categories.”

The international jury, consisting of casting director Dixie Chassay, actress-screenwriter Taki Mumladze, cinematographer-director Tato Kotetishvili, director-screenwriter Babak Jalali and director-producer Nino Orjonikidze, also gave out Special Mentions, including one for Outstanding Documentary Storytelling for Magic Mountain [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt
fiche film] by Mariam Chachia and Nik Voigt. The full list can be found below.

“The Eliso Awards are not only about celebrating cinema and tradition, but also about creating a space for reflection to make people think; it’s about understanding the past and confronting the present through the art of images,” said director Nino Kirtadze, a board member of the Nato Vachnadze Foundation. “The existence of the Eliso Awards in today's Georgia can be defined as [a response to] the existential need for the art community to meet, celebrate, think, stay united and move forwards together.”

Here is the full list of Eliso Award winners:

Best Director
Elene Naveriani - Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Elene Naveriani
fiche film] (Switzerland/Georgia)

Best Actress
Eka Chavleishvili - Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry

Best Cinematography
Lomero Akhvlediani - Smiling Georgia [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Luka Beradze
fiche film] (Georgia/Germany)

Special Mention for Best Editing
Eka Tsotsoria - Self-portrait Along the Borderline

Special Mention for Outstanding Documentary Storytelling
Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt - Magic Mountain [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mariam Chachia, Nik Voigt
fiche film] (Georgia/Poland)

Special Mention for Newcomers
Nina Eradze - Liza Go On
Ani Mogeladze - Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry

Special Mention for Best Ensemble
Smiling Georgia - Luka Beradze