World premiere
The Moon is a Father of Mine
Father and son test the boundaries of trust, loyalty and love on the eve of a pivotal event.
Twelve-year-old Toma is expelled from school after being relentlessly tormented by his classmates. His estranged father, Nemo, who disappeared when the boy was just two years old, invites him to their ancestral village. The locals do not embrace Nemo’s unwelcome return. But he doesn’t fear anyone and is determined to pass on the ancient tradition of deer hunting to his son. This fateful weekend Toma learns survival, independence, and the dark secrets of his father’s past.
The emotionally charged, intense drama is set against the meticulous recreation of the pivotal year of 1991, when Sakartvelo reclaimed its independence. The air is filled with a thirst for revenge, treachery and merciless threats. Only the whispers of mythical fantasies suggest that this is not a historical film. The mountains are an ocean of angels. The men of the Moon live there. Nobody can kill the Moon.
Director George Ovashvili drew inspiration from his childhood to shape the precisely sketched story throughout production. As in his acclaimed debut “The Other Bank”, he cast a boy whom he happened to see in a village. Giorgi Gigauri delivers a marvellous performance, captured in the stunning valleys, mountains and paths of Georgia.
Edvinas Pukšta
George Ovashvili (1963) is a graduate from the film department of the Georgian State Institute of Cinema and Theatre (1996) and the course of filmmaking of The New York Film Academy of Universal Studio in Hollywood (2006). His first feature film, “The Other Bank” (2009) premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2009 and won over 50 international prizes. His second feature “Corn Island” (2014) won the Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2014 and was shortlisted for the Academy Awards’s best foreign language film in 2015. After having produced his own works, George started a film production company, Wagonnet Film, in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2016. The company aims to produce various talented directors’ works, mainly through international co-production.
Filmography:
Gagma napiri (Teine kallas, PÖFF 2009), Simindis kundzuli (Maisisaar, PÖFF 2014), Khibula (2017), Mshvenieri Elene (Beautiful Helen, 2022), Mtvare mamaa chemi (The Moon is a Father of Mine, 2025)
Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn, Award for Best Director, grant of 5000€ from Alexela
