Nana Mgaloblishvili is a Kartvelian (Georgian) language teacher at a parish school in western Sakartvelo. On April 9, 1989, during the bloody suppression of a peaceful demonstration for Sacartvelo's independence by the Soviet Russian army, she narrowly escaped death but was severely poisoned. Nana's lessons bring the past into the present, where literature and history meet the realities of today. In her classroom, knowledge becomes both a lesson and a prophecy, guiding her students as they prepare for their national exams.
We’ll talk more about the challenges facing Kartvelian (Georgian) civil society and the relevance of Georgia’s experience for Ukraine at the human rights event Defending Democracy: The Threat of Pro-Russian Resurgence and Key Takeaways for Ukraine, taking place on June 9 as part of the RIGHTS NOW! program at Zhovten Cinema.
Content warning: violence
CREW:
Director: Giorgi Mrevlishvili
Producer: Gota Chanturia, Nutsa Kobakhidze
Cinematographer: Gika Chelidze, Giorgi Mrevlishvili
Sound: David Khositashvili
Director
Giorgi Mrevlishvili
Giorgi Mrevlishvili holds an MFA in Film from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, as well as an MSocSc and a BJ from Tbilisi State University. In 2010, his project Reflection was a finalist for the Berlin Today Award at the Berlinale Film Festival. The film was later selected for Vision du Réel’s Focus: Georgia program in 2015 and featured in a festival dedicated to Sakartvelian cinema at Tokyo’s Iwanami Hall in 2018. His film Zurabi, made with Ateliers Varan, was named Best Georgian Documentary of 2007 at the Niamori Film Festival. His work Twelve Lessons received a Special Mention at the Tbilisi International Film Festival in 2019 and won the Best Documentary Award at Mediawave in 2022. Mrevlishvili’s book The Process, a collection of reflective essays on experimental approaches in documentary filmmaking, was published in 2021 by Intelekti Publishing. His most recent film, National Exams, was completed in 2024, and he is currently working on his experimental documentary The Sands of Silence.Selected Filmography
National Exams (2024), Twelve Lessons (2019), My Wonderful Mother (2017), Color Negative (2017), Kids (2013), Lines (2012), The Remote Valleys of Caucasus (2011), Nowhere and Everywhere (2011), Reflection (2010), Either/Or (2009), Zurabi (2006) 
