Chai Khana

21-year-old Marisha works the night shift at a hotel full of Russian tourists to earn money for her studies. When she arrives in Tbilisi after two years of online classes, Marisha struggles to find a place to live, due to the influx of Russians escaping mobilization.

After she discovers canisters of undeveloped film shot by her late father, Elene sets out on a journey to collaborate with him on a special project. Between the earth and the land of the dead, a darkroom becomes the only dimension where the paths of a father and a daughter can cross.

As a result of the second Karabakh war, a village should be ceded to Azerbaijan since a new highway is built through the Lachin corridor. The family of Narine, like many other Armenian families, needs to find a new place.

Laura, a single mother from Baghdati, transformed her home into a hotel and named it after her daughter, Viktoria. Faced with challenging social and economic conditions, Laura works day and night to provide for her family. She cleans houses with other women and assists an individual with disabilities. Caring and cheerful, Laura represents the countless working women in Georgia, whose labor is often invisible but is vital to their communities.

The film tells the story of four different protagonists whose experiences ultimately merge into one narrative. Georgians who emigrated to France fight tirelessly for survival. One of the world’s most touristic cities becomes both a refuge and a last hope for many emigrants. The film uncovers corners of Paris that seem hidden within a city better known for its tourist attractions. Parallel Movements is a Georgia that exists beyond its borders. It resonates with the story of every Georgian who has already left, is leaving now, or will leave the country in the future.

The area of the abandoned parliament building in Kutaisi is an equal attraction and source of inspiration for artists and political elites of different eras. A young filmmaker studies the memory of this spot with his handheld camera, led by members of the band Skazz, and tries to reflect the facade of a building standing in the swamp.

The world has become akin to an abandoned video game: frozen and endless. State of Emergency wants to recreate this strange video-game reality. The film is an attempt to save a place in time: to describe it, and to remember it. Our current present — our own state of emergency, the Covid-19 pandemic — began more than a year ago, and no one knows how long it will last. The main markers of this new reality are isolation and distance. In the film, we see a virtual city has become like time itself, a labyrinth that is endless and uncertain. Meanwhile, lines from a diary collect the disparate thoughts accumulated over the course of a month.

In October, during the tense days of the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the director takes his camera to the village of Ashagi Nuvedi in Lankaran. The film follows the daily lives of fishermen — Sakhavat, Ramesh, Rza and Tehran — living in the shadow of the war. They go out to sea every morning amid news from the front, fearing empty nets, and hoping for a miracle — a goldfish in difficult days.

In Kutaisi, revived with footage of the 90s, the characteristic mood for Georgia's transition period is seen everywhere: family conversations, festive parties, artistic protests, public events, TV shows, and the city streets. These little stories reflect the confusion caused by the new reality, fear of an uncertain future, material hardship, and the anxious everyday life of the city. These scenes seem to answer the questions arising in the process of adjusting to the new way of life. All issues, which seemed particularly complex at that time, are now becoming simple and clear from today's perspective.

Through the creative use of archival footage, documentary filmmaker Maka Gogaladze tells a story of her family – from her birth till the present day, intertwined with the turbulent history of Georgia over the last 30 years.