Keti Machaviarani
Lullaby
What happens when a caregiver faces the death of the old man she takes care of and she might lose her only income? Will she be able to get through this great challenge without betraying her values?
SYNOPSIS
IA, a 46-year-old translator, works as a caregiver to a bedridden old man in Greece. She sends a monthly allowance to her son’s guardians (the deceased husband’s sister) every month on the same day to support her son, whom she left behind, and sustain a home in Georgia. Ia lives a mundane routine life that involves diligent care of the old man, housekeeping, and other household chores. She tries to maintain a connection with her profession by translating verses from Greek. Occasionally, she meets with her friends and tries to find herself through rekindling an old affair. It is through the scenes when she meets with her fellow working girlfriend, as well as the episode of her old boyfriend arriving for a brief period to Greece, that we fully understand the dire situation of our country’s recent past and current position. Ia’s multi-layered story (perpetuating the myth of Medea) is, in a sense, an “autobiography in the plural,” where we reflect on the experience of the millions of women found in various countries illegally working as a result of the economic crisis of the 1990s. We study their hard work and the consequences of long-term separation from their families. It has now become part of history that money sent by immigrant women to their families saved the Georgian economy in the 1990s. It was the only money coming into an independent, war-torn country. That is why we get curious about her path - when a caring and attentive intellectual has to face the sudden death of the old man she takes care of, and she might lose her only income, she decides to hide the fact and not bury him, keeping the old man cool in ice until payday. Will she be able to get through this great challenge without completely betraying her values and morals?
DIRECTOR
Keti Machaviarani
WRITERS
Keti Machaviarani
Nestan Kvinikadze
PRODUCERS
Effie Skrobola
George Kyriakos
PRODUCTION COMPANY
View Master Films
CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY
Vineyard Films
COUNTRIES
Greece
Georgia
Keti Machaviarani
KETI MACHAVARIANI was born in 1973. In 1995 she graduated from the Faculty of Arts of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, and in the same year she was enrolled to the postgraduate program of Shota Rustaveli State University in Tbilisi, majoring in Film Studies. In 2002 she graduated from the Film Directing Faculty of the same university. She was on internship program at RAI TV in 2005-2006 with support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After shooting several short films, the premiere of Keti Machavariani's feature film WHITE AS SALT took place at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2011. The film has participated in many film festival programs and won several prizes. In 2016, Keti was commissioned by the Public Broadcaster to shoot a short film GEORGIA 1992 - based on the story by Aka Morchiladze. In 2020, Keti completed the work on the documentary film MZIURI (author of the idea Tsisana Khundadze), which was premiered at Canadian doc film festival HotDocs, where it received Jury Special Mention. The film was shown at many festivals (Sarajevo International Films, CPHDOX, RIDM, DocLisboa, Zagrebdocs, etc.) She is actively involved in pedagogical activity and has been working as a film and TV producer for many years.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
LULLABY is a story of a Georgian woman who has fled to the faraway country of Greece. IA is a widow and a single mother who, despite her higher education and professionalism, was unable to support her child at home. Mothers like Ia are fleeing Georgia, where a university teacher's salary is only 2 euros per hour. Their illegal status has already cut their way back home. These mothers, beings without gender or personal history, miss their children and struggle with nostalgia and moral dilemmas. Sometimes, as with our protagonist, there is only one option: steal or lie. We, as observers, try to justify her actions; after all, she is just trying to help her 8-year-old son whom she has left behind. However, when there is uncertainty and all the bridges are burnt, a light beam still finds its way, and kindness returns in the most unexpected way. I wanted to travel through the territory of our main character, where in her routine, we could observe the disclosure of her most interesting emotions and attitudes in the face of the challenge of morality. The elderly people who are left alone with these women and spend their final days yearning for their relatives have an important place in this multi-layered history. This is a story about loneliness, about people trapped behind four walls trying to maintain human values in extreme circumstances. Ia manages to mix daily life with poetry, how she keeps being loving and devoted. I invented this story as Ia’s biography, but it is “the autobiography of many people.” I realize that, unfortunately, neither war nor emigration are no longer exotic for the rest of the world. However, for us, the most sensitive fact is that unofficially, from a country with a population of four million, one million women have emigrated to other countries. These are one million women who are scared and oppressed. At the same time, Ia is a tragicomedy. The stories of characters in endlessly complex situations keep the viewer on the verge of tears and laughter.
Effie Skrobola
EFFIE SKROBOLA, upon finishing her film studies in Canada, began collaborating in Greece with Costas Labropoulos in the field of film production. Member of the Greek Film Academy, she has 20 years of professional experience and has worked closely with Greek and foreign talents. She has participated in professional training programs (EAVE, Marketing and Distribution, Maia Workshop and the Sources 2 Projects and Process- Training the Mentors workshop). Since 2010 she has been responsible for the development of all films of VMF and KPG Entertainment while at the same time networking with creators on a global scale and the participation of films in Festivals, Markets and funding programs. Her most recent projects include THE HOUSE WITH NO ADDRESS by H. Askin, Y by M. Popistacu and A. Baciu, THE RIVER by H. Raftogiannis, HEN by Gyorgy Palfi, .DOG by Y. Americanou, A PURE PLACE by N. Chryssos, SISTERS APART by D. Harizani and WIND OF FREEDOM by S. Charalambopoulos. In 2019 she founded Mitos Productions, based in Canada, which specializes in original content for new media in the fields of history and education.
Production company profile
VIEW MASTER FILMS is one of the leading production companies in Greece specializing in the production of original and native content for film and television. The company was founded in 2010 in Athens by Giorgos Kyriakos and soon began its partnership with the independent producer Costas Lambropoulos, who has worked with Theo Angelopoulos, Costa Gavras and Martin Scorsese. They are both qualified film producers with over 30 years of experience in the audiovisual sector, as well as Members of the European Film Academy. New generation high skilled producers Effie Skrobolas and Vasilis Tzanidis are also working with the company, bridging the existing experience to the future of filming and production evolution.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
1.200.000 €
Production timeline
SPRING 2025
Pre-production
JUNE - JULY 2025
Shooting
AUGUST - DECEMBER 2025
Post-production
JANUARY 2026
DCP delivery