Georgian-American writer-director George Sikharulidze’s stunning first feature, Panopticon, follows 18-year-old Sandro (a spellbinding Data Chachua in his first major screen role) as he tries to navigate his burgeoning sexual feelings against the religious milieu he was born into. He has an absent mother, an opera singer who fled to the U.S., and a delusional father who has decided to become a monk. His new best friend, Lasha (Vakho Kedeladze), gets him involved in violent, xenophobic activity. And, despite having a girlfriend, he’s crushing on Lasha’s mom (Ia Sukhitashvili).
But Panopticon is much more than a coming-of-age movie, it’s a clever and savvy glimpse into the psyche of today’s youth, in all its messiness, against the backdrop of a growing extreme right-wing movement. It may be set in the country of Georgia, but it is bound to resonate in most places in the world today.
Read a review of the film, as part of my International Feature Oscar Entry analysis, HERE.
Sikharulidze is an award-winning Georgian-American filmmaker whose shorts include, The Fish That Drowned (2014), The Haircut (2015), Red Apples (2016), Fatherland (2018), A New Year (2019). His films have screened in the main competitions at Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and Karlovy Vary Film Festival, to name a few. He is a participant of Cinéfondation Residence of Cannes Film Festival, Torino Script Lab and Torino Feature Lab. The helmer has a Bachelor’s degree from NYU and an MFA in screenwriting and directing from Columbia University.
Panopticon is Georgia’s International Feature Oscar submission The film was selected by the Georgian National Film Center before the recent political shift in the country where the authoritarian governing party has seized control over the nation’s film industry, prompting major protests and leading to artists being arrested.
According to Sikharulidze, “it’s a tense and dangerous situation,” and he is in total solidarity with his fellow Georgian’s when it comes to the current film boycott. The director has made it clear that his film was finished before the new regime (my word) took power and began to dictate the content allowed in their cinematic output.
The bottom line is that Panopticon is an exceptional film and should be judged on its merits. It deserves to be seen and considered.
Sikharulidze’s next film, currently in post-production, was made independently without the support of the Georgia National Film Center. The new work will delve into alternative relationship types, like polyamory, and is titled, Wish I Didn’t Know Now, What I Didn’t Know Then.
The Contending had a fascinating and informative VIDEO chat with Sikharulidze about his film and the ongoing strife in his native land.
