Producer and director Keto Kipiani, 38, left her home in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, to present her latest film at the Kutaisi International Short Film Festival. The third city of this former Caucasian Soviet Republic, where this event took place from October 4 to 9, is culturally much less dynamic but offers a relaxed, almost bucolic atmosphere. “Everyone in the community was eager to gather at the festival, He later said via video from his hotel room. It’s like our last chance to celebrate cinema together while enjoying the last minutes of freedom and democracy, because who knows what will happen after October 26…”
Few elections have been so crucial since Georgia gained independence in 1991. The Georgian Dream party, founded by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, has ruled the Caucasian nation of 3.7 million people since 2012. While initially moderate and popular, its increasingly open trend towards pro-Russian authoritarianism has alienated important sectors of society, particularly young people.
Although supported by the Georgian Dream during her election in 2018, the country’s president, Salome Zourabichvili, whose powers are very limited, is now the moral figure trying to unify the pro-European opposition formed by four main coalitions. They hope to obtain the majority of votes to relaunch the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration. If not, some citizens opposed to the Georgian Dream are reluctantly considering leaving their country.
“The last chance”
This election comes after several waves of anti-government protests, the last of which was the spring mobilization against the law associating NGOs with “foreign agents”. Keto Kipiani was then in all the shows. “The reason we stopped protesting is the prospect of elections, she explains. After the summer vacation, we prepared for a bigger fight. This may be the last chance for change in the coming years. »
In March, when the government put its anti-NGO bill back on the table after a failed attempt in 2023, she imagined for the first time that she would have to leave the country. “Sometimes I think I’ll stay and fight to the end, sometimes I’ll leave, she trusts. The trigger will surely be when I no longer feel physically safe. »
You have 55.13% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
