The director of “Patient#1”, Rezo Gigineishvili, was born in Georgia. In his childhood, the family moved to Moscow. After graduating from film school, he became a commercially successful filmmaker in Russia. However, the author's international fame came with the Georgian film “Hostages” (2017), where he undertook a serious drama.

Nurse Sasha works at a government clinic in the Soviet Empire. She is assigned to take care of the desperately sick party leader. The patient has long lost touch with reality. Not only because of his illness but above all because he has been at the top of the country for such a long time. The old man believes he controls the state. In fact, he has long been a puppet in a system that functions out of inertia.

Gigineishvili’s new film has also been produced in Georgia. With this film, the 41-year-old director finally demonstrates his maturity to make sense of the grotesque manifestations of power that are taking place in our current society. This is particularly evident in the author's approach to the elderly patient. The situation is ridiculously absurd and at the same time absurdly sad. Gigineishvili’s personal life has constantly been under the heightened attention of the Russian tabloids. However, if this film were miraculously shown there, his image would certainly change as well. This is an author who deserves attention and has something to say – when we talk about the past, we can think about the present.

Mihkel Möölman