Tampere Film Festival 2024 programme will focus on South Caucasus in three different screenings. South Caucasus 1 and 2 include drama, comedy and animation.
Chai Khana: Female Voices of the Caucasus consists of four short documentaries. Chai Khana is a storytelling platform operating in the South Caucasus that aims to uplift the voices often dismissed by mainstream media.
Check out the screenings and read the introduction to the South Caucasus programme below.
South Caucasus screenings give us different windows to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Over the past century the area has served as a stage for unrest and conflict: war, revolutions, and changes in power have not only rocked its political landscape but also the everyday lives of its people. Poverty and authoritarianism – issues that are growing more common everywhere – also cast their shadows over the South Caucasus, but among them there is room for resistance and hope.
One of the three screenings of the theme is dedicated to Chai Khana. Founded in 2015, Chai Khana is a storytelling platform operating in the South Caucasus that aims to uplift the voices often dismissed by mainstream media. This is evident in the name itself: ‘chai khana’ translates to ‘tea house’, a space traditionally occupied and operated by men. With its name, the female-lead organisation makes the tea house a place where women and people of marginalised groups also get their voices heard.
The Chai Khana screening consists of four documentaries, varying in themes from tangible to the ethereal: Dreamland (2023) follows a young woman’s attempt to find an apartment in Tbilisi, where rent prices are at an all time high; the intimate and experimental They Whisper, But Sometimes Scream (2022) invites the viewer in to be a part of a local folk tradition. Directed by women, the documentaries especially highlight the region’s women and their experiences.
The two other screenings in this theme, South Caucasus 1 and 2, entail a versatile mix of drama and comedy. Their wistful melancholy, dry humour and striking visuals reach through the screen in a palpable way. The history of the region is long and its present multifaceted, but these films present touching points through different lives, historical events and cultural phenomena.
Aaro Salokorpi
Tampere Film Festival
