Georgian Consulate to Screen Oscar-Nominated Film “Tangerines”

The Consulate of Georgia in the Philippines, led by Consul (a.h.) Thelmo Luis O. Cunanan, Jr., in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines and the Georgian National Film Center (FDCP), will screen the Oscar-nominated Estonian-Georgian film Tangerines (Mandariinid in Estonia).  

This 650,000 euro film, which has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 87th Academy Awards, was also among the five nominated films at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards for best foreign language film. 

It will be shown in FDCP’s theaters all over the Philippines and in select colleges, universities and international cultural centers, as part of the 2nd Nationwide Georgian Roadshow in March and April. 

The annual Georgian film festival in the Philippines was conceptualized and founded by Consul Cunanan as a way of spreading awareness of Georgian culture and heritage to Filipinos. 

Aside from the screenings, the event also includes film donations to the libraries of the Georgian Consulate’s partner schools such as De La Salle University and College of the Holy Spirit Manila. The FDCP’s theatres are located in Baguio, Manila, Iloilo, Davao, and Zamboanga.

Tangerines has won numerous awards to date, including the Special Award of Mannheim-Heidelberg and Audience Award at International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg in 2013, the Best Director Award and Best Audience Award at the 29th Warsaw International Film Festival, Best Estonian Film at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2013, Best Director Award at the Tbilisi International Film Festival in 2013, the Crystal Phoenix for Best Picture and for Best Screenplay at the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival in 2014,  Best Picture at the Bari International Film Festival in 2014 and the Jury Grand Prix, War on Screen in 2014. 

The movie tells a story that takes place in an Estonian village in Abkhazia (Georgia) during the War in Abkhazia (1992–93) that displaced many Estonians who lived in the area but returned to their homeland during the war. 

However, two Estonian men, Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) and Margus (Elmo Nuganen) remain in a village in order to harvest the season’s crop of tangerines. While they are going about their business, they get caught in the crossfire between two small bands of rival soldiers. Two of the fighters survive - Ahmed (Giorgi Nakhashidze), a Chechen mercenary on the Abkhazian side, and Niko (Mikheil Meskhi), a Georgian. 

Both are badly wounded, but the two Estonians take them in and nurse them back to health. Although the two rival combatants vow to kill each other once they’re both ambulatory again, their time spent convalescing softens their belligerence.  

The movie, which carries a pacifist message and shows how to be humane, was directed, produced and written by Georgian film director and screenwriter Zaza Urushadze.  The filming, done in 52 days, took place in the Guria region in Georgia. The film was produced by Estonian film production company Allfilm and Georgian production company Cinema 24.