Georgi SHENGELAIA Георгий ШЕНГЕЛАЯ Gueorgui CHENGUELAIA   USSR (Georgia), 1969, 86 mn  Colour, fiction

Pirosmani ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Пиросмани    Pirosmani  Pirosmani

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Plot synopsis

This film is about the great Georgian painter – primitivist Niko Pirosmanashvili (1862-1918). An unknown, self-taught painter roams the streets of a city, painting his pictures. The local people only know that his name is Nikola Pirosmani, that he is a kind and honest person, but nobody takes his painting seriously. To make his living and be able to buy paints, Nikola opens up a food shop. But very soon he goes bankrupt, for he is giving away butter and cheese to anyone who got no money. Already gravely ill, he paints his last picture, imbued with light, joy and love for life.

 

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Commentaries and bibliography

 

The life of Pirosmani, a Georgian primitivist folk painter, is explored in dreamlike detail by his compatriot Georgy Shangelaya. The film's curious sepia color scheme pays a subtle tribute to Pirosmani's own artwork, which ranges from folk whimsy to unfettered drama.
Source : www.seagullfilms.com

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Selected in the following festivals :

- Pessac International History Film Festival, Pessac (France), 2016

- Europe around Europe, Paris (France), 2012

- Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Thessaloniki (Greece), 2012

- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2012

- Fribourg International Film Festival, Fribourg (Switzerland), 2011

- Une semaine de cinéma caucasien à l'Action Christine, Paris (France), 2010

- Retrospective Russian cinema at the "Reflet Médicis", Paris (France), 2010

- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2009

- Festival ''East-West'', Die (France), 2006

- International debut film festival, Khanty Mansiysk (Russia), 2006

- Retrospectives : brothers Shengelaya - Mikhail Kobakhidze, Paris (France), 2005

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Photos and videos

 

 

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