Baltic premiere
Panopticon
When repressed feelings and curiosity suddenly take hold.
With a mother working abroad illegally and a grandma too old to substitute a parent, Sandro is left practically alone after his father’s departure. To fulfil a new obligation as a son of a future monk, he must turn to religion himself. Without realising it, he becomes oppressed by the invisible spiritual surveillance of his father and God that shapes his behaviour. This sudden change comes at the peak of Sandro’s sexual awakening and creates a powerful conflict between body and soul. Convinced that sex before marriage is sinful, he represses his desires towards his high-school sweetheart, Tina, and instead starts to manifest all this sexual frustration in inappropriate ways, like touching random girls in public and exposing himself to the mother of his football teammate, Lasha. While developing an erotic fixation towards Lasha’s mother, Sandro easily falls under Lasha’s influence as he is slightly older and very charming. But he is also a nationalist, who quickly lures Sandro into a rising Christian Fascist movement. Sandro tries to reconcile the opposing forces within his heart. He fights for survival and tries to make sense of the notions of faith, love, and manhood at the most formative time of his life - a trial that will eventually prove to be a revelation of his humanity.
Recommended age 14+
George Sikharulidze is a Georgian-American filmmaker. He holds a BS in media communications from New York University and an MFA in film directing from Columbia University. His short films include “The Fish that Drowned” (2014), which premiered at the Clermont Ferrand Film Festival, “Red Apples” (2016) and “A New Year” (2018), which were shown at the Toronto International Film Festival and “Fatherland”, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. His first feature film “Panopticon” (2024) was developed at the Cinéfondation Residence of the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Torino Script Lab 2019 and Torino Feature Lab 2020. George has taught screenwriting and directing at New York University and Columbia University. He is currently a Professor of Film at the University of Notre Dame.
Fish that Drowned (2014), Red Apples (2016), A New Year (2018), Panopticon (Panoptikum, 2024)
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