The Prometheus Art Center is set to host the 26th Tbilisi International Film Festival from December 1 to 7, with all screenings scheduled at Amirani Cinema. Despite continued dedication to its mission, this year’s edition will run on a notably reduced scale due to the withdrawal of government funding.
As a result, the festival’s program has been streamlined: the international competition will not take place and the Industry Days, a platform previously devoted to supporting emerging Georgian filmmakers and fostering their professional development, has been largely cancelled.
Even with these limitations, audiences will have access to a rich and diverse selection of cinema. The festival will screen around forty international titles alongside approximately thirty new Georgian films. These works will be presented across the festival’s established sections: European Forum, Made in Germany, French Collection, New Italian Cinema and Georgian Panorama
The Georgian Panorama jury will award the best Georgian films of the year in four categories: feature fiction, feature documentary, short fiction and short documentary. Additionally, with support from the European Union, the festival will present a special award recognizing the Best Depiction of Human Rights in Georgian Cinema in both fiction and documentary categories.
The event continues to receive significant international support. This year’s festival is backed by the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Goethe-Institut, the French Institute, and the embassies of Italy, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Austria. A notable mention of the program is the participation of New Italian Cinema Events (N.I.C.E.), presenting a dedicated showcase of new Italian films.
The festival’s general partner is TBC Concept, with Volvo and Rooms Hotel serving as sponsors. Media partners include Tabula, Indigo, AT.ge, Formula TV and Radio Fortuna.
Amid the challenges facing the cultural sector, the Tbilisi International Film Festival reaffirms its commitment to core values: human dignity, artistic freedom, democracy, peace and justice. The festival team also expresses solidarity with the current protest movement and calls for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience.
