»AMOK« OR »GESETZ UND PFLICHT«

Georgian silent film with live music.

Followed by a talk with the film manager and Goethe Medal awardee Gaga Chkheidze.

The film manager Gaga Chkheidze has been working for decades to preserve Georgian film history and to internationalize Georgian film. One of his key achievements as director of the Georgian National Film Center was the creation of an archive of Georgian films produced during the Soviet era, many of which are still stored in the archives of the Russian Federation. The Georgian Film Center takes care of the "return" of the original films, their restoration and preservation. On August 28, Gaga Chkheidze will receive the Goethe Medal for his comprehensive commitment to film and international cultural exchange. On this occasion, the Kunstfest Weimar and the Goethe-Institut will show the silent film "Amok" or "Law and Duty" by Kote Marjanishvili from 1927. The film is based on the novella of the same name byStefan Zweig and is the first film adaptation of a foreignliterary work in Georgian cinema.It was shot in Tbilisi with Georgian film starsNato Vachnadze, Aleksandre Imedashvili, ValerianGunia and Siko Falavandishvili. In 2018, the Georgian Nation- al Film Center received a new copy of the film, which was previously stored in the archives of the Russian Federation. After extensive restoration work, the pre- miere of the film took place in October 2019 as part of the "European Cultural Heritage Days" in Tbilisi. In Weimar, the silent film will be accompanied by live music by Richard Siedhoff (piano) and Mykyta Sierov (oboe). Afterwards, the Artistic Director of the Kunstfest Weimar Rolf C. Hemke will talk with Gaga Chkheidze about his work and the role of Georgian film.