Atonal Glow

Director’s statement 

One can speak endlessly or say very little about the director’s vision and motivation. Why? Because it is impossible to limit to one or two pages the volume of emotions that connect you to your creation – your film. It is also rather impossible to speak extensively about something that is so precious to you. That’s the paradox. Nevertheless, I will attempt to outline the main messages of the film:

1) In my opinion, the film’s protagonist is the single most important phenomenon that exists in Georgia today.

2) TSOTNE ZEDGENIDZE (the protagonist) will undoubtedly leave his mark in history, as did Mozart, Beethoven and other legendary composers. It is most important for me in this film to show the child’s unique inner world, as naturally and as tactfully as possible.

3) The film has another equally significant character – TSOTNE’s grandmother, Mrs. NINO MAMRADZE (a well-known piano tutor in Georgia). For TSOTNE and his sister, she has replaced a mother, who died young. NINO is not only a close relative for TSOTNE. She is also his music mentor, without whom the child’s unique talent might have gone unnoticed. With her dramatic presence, the lady is as much a protagonist of the film as TSOTNE is.

4) New exciting events await TSOTNE in the near future. He’s already been noticed by the modern pillars of Georgian music scene – Gia Kancheli and Nikoloz Rachveli. He will soon break through to the international arena. These developments are likely to influence the film’s narrative and dramatic composition.

5) The film’s structure consists of two narratives – one is the material that TSOTNE himself films with his mobile phone. This allows us to look straight into his inner world. The film’s director is not even present during the filming of these scenes. The second is a classical narrative, told through the eye of the documentary camera.