Without an interesting story there is no good film, says Khatuna Khundadze - project leader, director and film producer. Khatuna is the first female director in Georgia and founded the International Short and Mountain Film Festival in Mestia. She is part of the jury at Alpin Film Festival.
Alpin Film Festival takes place every year in Brașov, Predeal and Râșnov and has reached its 9th edition, which starts on September 17. Nature adventure, film, photography and book enthusiasts come together to share stories about exploring the wild. All of them reunited under the message COOL-HIKE ON THE MOUNTAINS.
This year, the organizers divided the International Competition into two subsections: ALPINIADA with films about mountaineering, mountain sports and high-altitude adventures, ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN which includes documentaries about mountain beauties, treating environmental and anthropological themes. The members of the jury are Cosmin Dumitrache – documentary film producer and director, Roberto Zazzara - director, screenwriter, cinematographer, photographer and Khatuna Khundadze.
We have talked to about her work in cinematography, her contribution to the development of Georgian culture and her presence at the Alpin Film Festival.
Stages from your professional journey
Art has always been with me and I always wanted to be a film director, but it wasn't possible because I grew up in a family of doctors and my sister and I both had to become doctors and we did it, gave our diploma to my father and went to Germany to study art. I finished the Stuttgart Art Academy and then studied film directing. My sister studied film music and sound design at the Ludwigsburg Film Academy and that's how we became filmmakers.
When I look back now, it was a good decision to go to Europe and study what I always wanted to do.
I have achieved a lot in my career, but I think I have important things ahead of me and that is the feature films that I plan to shoot.
Things you have learned in Germany
I can say that I grew up in Germany, because 17 years is not a little time. My mentality is and remains Georgian, but I learned a lot in Germany and that helps me a lot in my life.
In Germany I founded an outsider gallery, did very interesting exhibitions with homeless people and it was very interesting for me to see life not only from above, but also from below. I was friends with them.
It was really nice for me to promote Georgian culture in Germany and I did over 70 concerts that were really beautiful and different for Germany.
Your contribution to the development of Georgian culture
I was able to return in 2012 as Vice Minister of Culture. I was not prepared for it because the position was too political and I wanted to promote and create art and not politics.
Then I headed the Department for Foreign Relations and the Ministry of Culture.
There were many interesting projects, but since it is always important for me to promote Georgian culture, one project is very important to me. In Austria, in Graz, at the international competition for vocalists, I founded a prize bearing the name of Georgian opera composer Zakaria Paliashvili and I am very proud of it.
Pioneering in the filmmaking. First female director from Georgia
Yes, I am the first woman director of the oldest and most important film studio not only in Georgia, but also in the Soviet Union - Georgian Film. But Georgia has a very long history of women in film and even across generations. Now the Georgian woman has won in Venice too. In chess and in film, Georgian women are top.
The first movie you directed
I made my first film at the art academy and it was a woman's story. ETERI, an 88-year-old woman who had been living without legs for 5 years and because she couldn't wear any prostheses, came up with the idea of sitting on a chair and moving like that. That's how she studied, that's how she had her daughter and raised her. The film immediately won an award and opened several short film festivals.
But I haven't said my word in cinema yet, since I started studying film directing at 39, I have a lot of catching up to do.
The presence of female directorial voices in European Cinematography
I come from a small country in the Caucasus called GEORGIA, where women have been making films since 1928 and still make them today and it's nothing out of the ordinary. I love good cinema and it doesn't matter whether it was a woman or a man who made the film. But I'm still happy when I find out at the end that the filmmaker was a woman.
Founding and developing The International Short and Mountain Film Festival from Mestia
I invite you to Georgia and to Mestia and you will find the answer yourself when you see the Caucasus. I am happy that our festival is the first mountain film festival in the Caucasus.
Of course, the Festival has developed in these 4 years and has found its place on the world festival map. The fact that the festival already has a name also shows that the international press writes a lot about it and interesting guests visit us. This year's guest of honor was REINHOLD MESSNER and the 4 ambassadors visited the festival in Mestia. It was great.
Your presence at Alpin Film Festival
This is not the first festival where I have been a juror, but it is a special honor for me to be a juror at the MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL. Dan Burlak and I met at the BERLINALE and I invited him to be a juror at the MESTIA INTERNATIONAL SHORT AND MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL and he was with us in the summer. Now I am coming to Romania and it is a really big honor for me.
I am a very strict juror, one thing is a well-shot film, but for me the story of what the film is about is very important.
I have already seen the list and it will be a really exciting and interesting week.
I am very excited to visit such a beautiful city and country.
It's always interesting to see something different that you haven't seen before. Festivals are good for learning so many new things and, what's very important, you get to meet so many new and interesting people.
The role of the cinema nowadays
Cinema is a mirror and shows what is happening on our planet. Cinema is just as important as books.
Your message for emerging filmmakers
Find interesting stories, without an interesting story there is no good film.
