Tamar Kalandadze, Julien Pebrel
Kartli
Can the places we're compelled to leave ever truly release us?
SYNOPSIS
Kartli, a former sanatorium in Tbilisi, cradles lives, time, and fates. It was meant to be a temporary shelter but became home to dozens of refugee families from the 1990s war in Abkhazia. Over the past three decades, they have created a new ecosystem with shops, shrines, terraces for dreaming and socializing, while residing in tiny rooms where they replay old VHS tapes of their youth. The community shares the nostalgia of a common past and is marked by the traumas of exile, but it is the architectural structure of the building that shapes their daily life. However, over the course of the film's six years, we witness the building gradually falling apart. As parts of Kartli crumble, sparking fears for the residents' safety, Irma, the heart of Kartli, leads the community's fight for immediate relocation. This results in a rehousing process, but only after a tragedy occurs. Confronting a new reality—cutting ties with Kartli—the question of what home truly is arises again. Will the clean walls of their new flats compensate for the priceless relationships woven over 30 years in Kartli?
DIRECTORS
Tamar Kalandadze
Julien Pebrel
PRODUCER
Ketevan Kipiani
CO-PRODUCER
Jean Baptiste Bonnet
EDITOR
Eka Tsotsoria
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Sakdoc Film
CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY
Habilis Production
COUNTRIES
Georgia
France
LENGTH
90 minutes
Tamar Kalandadze
TAMAR KALANDADZE holds a master’s degree in film directing and has worked with prominent Georgian filmmakers as an assistant director and script editor. She has also co-produced a variety of articles and video reportages for famous magazines and TV channels such as Radio Télévision Suisse, Arte, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, and Le Monde.
Julien Pebrel
JULIEN PEBREL is a documentary photographer, member of Myop agency since 2011. He lives in Tbilisi and Paris. His photographic work has been exhibited and screened at the Rencontres de la photographie d'Arles, the Tbilisi Photography and Multimedia Museum, the Goeun Museum of Photography, the Seen Fifteen Gallery, Galerie le 247, and more. He has been published in the international press (Le Monde, Libération, Washington Post, Géo, Internazionale, Der Spiegel, Financial Times Week-End Magazine, Time Magazine, Huck, etc). KARTLI is the first feature length documentary film Tamar and Julien are working together.
A collaborative film shaped by two perspectives, our work captures the essence of Kartli through a fluid interchange of roles - one managing the camera, the other handling sound. In a 4:3 format, the film delves into Kartli's past, present, and imagined future, blending emotions, memories, and humor. Narrating the community's story, we integrate tales of Kartli's past, revealing hidden aspects through spontaneous narratives. Our lens captures daily life intimately, from shared memories to struggles, highlighting the community's essence. The building itself becomes a living entity, mapped through careful filmmaking, inviting viewers into an evolving imagined cartography.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Ketevan Kipiani
KETEVAN KIPIANI studied sociology before obtaining her master's degree in Cultural Studies. In 2011, she joined the Sakdoc Film team, a production company based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Since then, Ketevan has been actively involved in the film industry, lending her expertise to both documentary and feature films. Presently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Documentary Film Association (DOCA Georgia), aiming to build a strong and sustainable community of documentary film professionals. Ketevan is one of the initiators and key figures behind the DOCA Film Club, an initiative of DOCA that organizes curated weekly thematic screenings of documentary and experimental films.
Tamar and Julien introduced me to their project a couple of years ago, and I found it both exciting and relatable. My main motivation to produce this film stems from its immense cinematic appeal and the fascinating artistic vision behind it. On the other hand, it is the philosophical and existential questions the film aims to raise—humanity’s never-ending search for home, as well as our struggle with attachments and the sense of belonging. We are currently in the production stage, with the majority of our financial plan already secured. Together with our French co-producer, Habilis Productions, we have obtained grants from CNC, as well as local funds from Normandy and Eurimages. In Georgia, we have already received financial support from the Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC), the sole film funding organization in the country. We plan to apply for additional international production and post-production funds from sources such as Visions sud Est and the Doha Film Institute.
PRODUCER’S STATEMENT
Production company profile
SAKDOC FILM is a film production company and organization dedicated to developing and promoting creative documentary filmmaking in Georgia. Sakdoc Film is the producer of Salomé Jashi's TAMING THE GARDEN (2021) and Alexandre Koberidze's WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY (2021), both notable works that have been released in several countries worldwide, with screenings in cinemas and on online platforms.
Where are we at?
PRODUCTION BUDGET
280.870 €
NEEDED FOR COMPLETION
28.600€
TERRITORIES AVAILABLE
Worldwide
EXPECTED RELEASE
May 2025
Looking for at CineLink?
Broadcasters
Post-production funders
Distributors,
Festivals
Pre-sales opportunities