The Cinematheque

Vancouver Premiere

“A gritty, heartfelt portrait of creativity and desperation on the margins of modern Georgian society.”

Klassiki

Niko, the drummer of the title, is young and poor. The band he plays in has a modest following but certainly isn’t going to make anyone rich. He also has a no-hope factory job and a sympathetic girlfriend, and material dreams he can’t fulfill. Then, one day, the drug trade beckons, with predictably chaotic results. A rock drummer who has led several bands, Kalandadze skirts clichés by depicting them through the quiet yet stubborn gaze of his protagonist. Lead actor Lasha Tskvitinidze, a director himself, turns in an excellent performance.

In Georgian with English subtitles

preceded by

Fishing
თევზაობა
Georgia/​France 2017
Tornike Bziava
18 min. DCP

Set just after the Christmas season, Bziava’s formally ambitious short is built on long, slow-zoom sequence shots of a Tbilisi bridge where people are fishing and workers are taking down holiday lights. This peaceful scene doesn’t last long… ​“Resolutely poetic and political … One of the most original works of East European cinema” (Mathieu Lericq, Format Court).

In Georgian with English subtitles

The Drummer will include a video introduction by Kote Kalandadze and actor/​composer Gogi Dzodzuashvili