'Comets' by Tamar Shavgulidze nominated for Asia Pacific Screen Awards

Comets, a feature-length story of friendship and romantic ties between two women from filmmaker Tamar Shavgulidze, has been nominated for the 2019 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, the largest event of the kind for the region.

The shortlist involving less than 40 nominees for the next ceremony in Brisbane was unveiled today, with the work by Shavgulidze picked for the Best Screenplay category.

Dubbed "a complex and multi-layered relationship drama set in the Georgian countryside" (APSA), Comets has been directed by the filmmaker based on her own screenplay.

It had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, where audience followed the protagonists in the story of a reunion between the women at a holiday retreat where they used to spend their childhood time together.

See the trailer for 'Comets' by director Tamar Shavgulidze below:

Three decades after their separation, Irina and Nana remain mesmerized by memories of earlier days. But when Irina returns to the small community she left - where Nana stayed to start a traditional family - the women must reconcile with the past and their complex feelings" - Toronto Film Festival

The Toronto festival also referred to the feature - produced by Tekla Matchavariani and Aleksandre Shervashidze - as an "emotive drama". Credits for the film also feature Giorgi Shvelidze, an American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Spotlight Award-winning Georgian cinematographer.

Shavgulidze's 110-minute runtime work follows the 2011 Born in Georgia, the previous work by the filmmaker. She also worked on Three Houses (2008) by Zaza Urushadze as screenwriter while also directing Minus 37 and Hopscotch (2003).

A jury team of "renowned filmmakers" (APSA) will deliberate over the nominee shortlist to determine their winners a week before the awards ceremony at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on November 21, where over 800 industry professionals will gather.