Ovashvili’s new film about mysterious death of Georgia’s first president

The Georgian director of award-winning films Corn Island and The Other Bank is tackling a new film project that explores the mysterious death of Georgia’s first elected president.

Esteemed director George Ovashvili announced his new film was called Khibula – the same name as the village where Georgia’s first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia died in unsolved circumstances. Gamsakhurdia’s body was found with a gunshot wound to the head. To date it has not been determined if the then president was murdered or if the fatal wound was self-inflicted.

Ovashvili’s new film aims to shed light on the mysterious death of country’s first elected president.

The film’s script was written by Ovashvili and Roelof-Jan Minneboe and was submitted to the Cannes Film Festival where it won the development award at the Cannes Ateliers in 2011.

The Georgian-language film is expected to be released next year.

When Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Georgian people had the opportunity to elect its first president. Gamsakhurdia was chosen but his reign was brief.

His enemy managed to overthrow him and Gamsakhurdia was forced into exile. One year later, the Georgian leader and his supporters banded together and decided to stand up to the opposition and defend Gamsakhurdia as the legitimate president of the nation.

However, he was defeated a second time, which led to his expulsion from Georgia. The story of Khibula begins here, said Ovashvili.

In the film, the president flees. He is escorted by his prime minister and four guards. They advise Gamsakhurdia to go abroad but the ousted president refuses to leave his people behind. He wants to reach his loyal troops that are rumoured to be waiting for him in the remote village of Khibula.

The journey is difficult: on foot through mountainous terrain in freezing cold conditions. Enemy forces are chasing the president – they remain unseen and unheard but ensure Gamsakhurdia knows they are after him.

Gamsakhurdia reaches Khibula but there is no sign of his loyal troops. The president begins to doubt the loyalty of his prime minister and guards. The physical journey becomes a spiritual journey towards a goal that is unknown to the men who have vowed to protect him. The role of his protectors becomes unclear: are they chasing him, protecting him from enemy forces or from himself?

The Georgian-language film is due to be released in 2016.