By this
outstanding and deeply poetic film of 1969 directed by Giorgi
Shengelaya (b. 1937) we’re continuing our mini-festival of fifteen
masterpieces of Georgian cinema.
The film is a visually stunning
biography of the
great Georgian painter – primitivist artist Niko (Nikoloz) Pirosmanishvili
(1862-1918), a brilliant representative of the so-called naïve art movement. 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 and 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. Today, a monument was installed in Tbilisi and
the 146 of his works are shown in the Art Museum of Georgia.
Writers: Erlom
Akhvlediani, Giorgi Shengelaya.
Stars: Avtandil
Varazi, Dodo
Abashidze, Givi
Aleksandria, Margo Gvaramadze.
Cinematography: Konstantin
Apryatin, Dudar
Margievi, Alex
Rekhviashvili. Music: Nodar Gabunia, Vakhtang
Kukhianidze. Produced by S. Kvaratskhelia.
The film won the Grand Prize at the 1972
Chicago Film Festival. “A splendid and innovative work of poetic biography” (New
Yorker).
Running time: 85 min with English
subtitles.
The screening will take place at SRH on Saturday June 20, at 5-7pm.
Silk Road House,
1944 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 (between Milvia & Martin Luther
King; enter by side door); e-mail: silkroadhouse@gmail.com;
website: www.silkroadhouse.org;
facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SilkRoadHouse.
Silk Road House
events are sponsored by the Silkroad Foundation.
