Elene Naveriani (b. 1985) is a Georgian filmmaker living in Switzerland. She studied painting at the State Academy of Art in Tbilisi; later, she moved to Switzerland and earned a Bachelor in Film at the Geneva School of Art and Design.

Her first film was “Me Mzis Skivi Var Dedamicaze” (2017, a.k.a. “I Am Truly a Drop of Sun on Earth”), followed by “Wet Sand” (2021). Now her latest feature film—screened at last year’s Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival—is playing in theaters, and is titled “Shashvi shashvi maq’vali,” internationally released as “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry.”

Since the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the film became a worldwide film festival favorite and was screened at festivals from Chicago to Melbourne, earning awards at the Gijón International Film Festival in Spain (Best Actor for Temiko Chichinadze, Best Actress for Eka Chavleishvili), and the Sarajevo Film Festival (Best Feature Film, Best Actress). Both the film and actress Eka Chavleishvili were nominated for European Film Awards.

The leading character in “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” is Etero, a forty-eight-year-old woman who runs a small-town grocery store in Georgia, who is confronted with the rules of society and how she overcomes them to set herself free. She’s an unmarried, middle-aged virgin, and when she has an affair with a married man, she has to figure out what she wants from life.

The film is based on a book by Georgian author Tamta Melashvili that was published in 2020. Actress Eka Chavleishvili had played a small part in Elene Naveriani’s previous film “Wet Sand” (2021), and after Ms. Naveriani had read the book, she knew Eka Chavleishvili would be perfect to play Etero. Eka Chavleishvili was the filmmaker’s first and only choice.

“Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” (2023, trailer with Dutch subtitles)

“Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” was screened at the latest Film Fest Ghent where I sat down with filmmaker Elene Naveriani to talk about her film that is playing in theaters in Belgium from January 17 and in the Netherlands from February 22. In both countries, the film is released through Vedette Film.

Ms. Naveriani, what inspired you to make this film?

There were a few things that were very important to translate this story into a film. It was such a powerful character that it was crucial to bring her to the screen. I had never seen anyone like her on screen. What is also important is her physicality; she is not accepted, not only because of how she thinks but also visually and how she is presented as a woman. And she’s not a fulfilled woman; she didn’t achieve what women usually have in society. She didn’t get married, she doesn’t have children, and she’s not a young woman anymore. That’s what people think of her, that’s what makes her story so strong. You don’t have to adapt to what society gives to you, and you don’t have to adapt to what they expect you to do. Her story plays out in this tiny place; everything is routine, and nothing happens. So, this revolutionary drive that she has in her life was one of the main reasons why I wanted to make this film.

In a crucial scene in the film, she enters a café and orders a cake where this older man is commenting about her. I suppose that defines who she is and what her view on life is?

Yes, it’s also the way they look at her. Within this interaction, she defines her being, where she stands, and where she positions herself. It’s the same with her friends; she speaks up and makes her point.

Is this, in your opinion, a typical Georgian film or a universal film?

A Georgian film, very culturally engraved into specific things that are Georgian. That’s also the reason why I made it there. It’s closer to me, culturally and historically. Compared to other societies, her struggle and her way of defining herself aren’t only Georgian. That makes it more recognizable. And it’s not only about the gender. We all try to define ourselves within ourselves and not be or do what we’re told to be or do.

Did you add any specific characterizations to the story, or did you stick to the novel?

The novel is very different. It’s a monologue of Etero where you follow her and have her perspective on everything and how she sees the world. Verbally, there’s not much interaction with others. But the novel is vibrant and powerful, making it very interesting to keep what was important and take out different layers, like flashbacks and her family. You know everything through her thoughts. My goal was to see what inspired me and keep all of that. In a book, you have more space where you can talk about childhood and discover so many different timelines. My Etero is more positive, more hopeful, and she is confronting. In the book, she’s not. She thinks, ‘I wish I could tell you this and have an argument with you,’ but she doesn’t do it. She keeps everything to herself, while in the film, she manifests herself.

Your film is very minimalistic, very basic. Was that by choice?

Yes, and that has to do with the way I tell the story. For example, I prefer to leave the specific locations and places as they are. It’s set in the countryside, but you don’t see which part of the country it is. Also, language-wise, in each region, we speak very different accents. Some filmmakers are very faithful towards those realistic elements, but in my film, they don’t speak the language of their region. The characters are not defined by the region where they live. But you try to give everything that you get, like the way they talk, their intonation, and that’s very personal for me; also the sound and the colors. I don’t need anything extra for that, so from that point of view, in a minimalistic way, you can bring so much. Etero, with her strong intuition, is like that, too.

Sound is essential to you?

When you show a frame, there are always many things that a frame can’t catch. Sound can make it wider and broader.

The way you tell the story, is that a reflection of the cinema you grew up with?

That is interesting because I grew up with very different kinds of cinema. I didn’t have much choice in terms of DVD or cassette. I would watch whatever they showed on television because we had restrictions about electricity—I didn’t have a choice. Some families could choose their films, but we couldn’t get the films that we wanted, so we watched what was selected by the state or the government. The choice was restricted. Later, it changed and opened up a bit. I saw many old Hollywood films, and I also remember the first time that I really connected with cinema was when I watched Vittorio de Sica’s Italian neo-realistic film “Miracolo a Milano” [1951, a.k.a. “Miracle in Milan”]. Rationally, I didn’t know what happened because I was only ten years old at the time, but I think that’s when I understood that cinema has this super powerful strength to tell stories that could relate to everybody around the world. That was solid storytelling, but I didn’t think I would ever do this. Later, I could watch different things and liked other filmmakers. But I would say I’m very fascinated with films and some of my favorite filmmakers are Kenneth Anger, Barbara Hammer and Derek Jarman. When you see their films, it’s like watching their minds at work.

You’re a cinephile, aren’t you?

What I love is that I always watch a film as a spectator. It would be very painful for me if I would lose that. It’s great to go to the movies and enjoy them.

Film Fest Ghent, Belgium
October 15, 2023

FILMS

ME MZIS SKIVI VAR DEDAMICAZE, a.k.a. I AM TRULY A DROP OF SUN ON EARTH (2017) DIR Elene Naveriani PROD Britta Rindelaub CAM Agnesh Pakozdi ED Gabriel Gonzales CAST Kakha Nozadze, Daniel Antony Onwuka, Mariam Chachia, Nino Giorgobiani, Bianka Shugurova

WET SAND (2021) DIR Elene Naveriani PROD Cornelia Seitler, Brigitte Hofer, Ketie Danelia SCR Elene Naveriani, Sandro Naveriani CAM Agnesh Pakozdi ED Aurora Vögeli MUS Philippe Ciompi CAST Bebe Sesitashvili, Gia Agumava, Megi Kobaladze, Giorgi Tsereteli, Kakha Nozadze, Eka Chavleishvili, Zaal Goguadze, Luka Khalvashi

BOYS ON FILM 23: DANGEROUS TO KNOW (2023) DIR Elane Naveriani, Irasj Asanti, Máté Konkol, Sean Lìonadh, Sam Max, Mark Pluck, Sven Spur, Uriel Torten, Renato Turnes, Tom Young PROD Alfredo Covelli, Gábor Osváth CAM Robbie Bryant, Andrew O’Connor, Tamás Papp, Jordan T. Parrott, Matthee Van Holderbeke ED Guy K. Ward, Lili Gyarmati, Dulcinee DeGuere MUS Rupert Uzzell, Matthias Dewilde CAST Zachary Quintro, Russell Kahn, Ravdeep Singh Bajwa, Péter Dániel Katona, Adam Wadsworth, Fredrik Skogsrud, Ruaridh Mollica, Ido Tako

SHASHVI SHASHVI MAQ’VALI, a.k.a. BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY (2023) DIR Elene Naveriani PROD Britta Rindelaub, Thomas Reichlin, Ketie Danelia SCR Elene Naveriani, Nikoloz Msivani (book “Shashvi shashvi maq’vali” [2020], a.k.a. “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” by Tamta Melashvili) CAM Agnesh Pakozdi ED Aurora Vögel CAST Eka Chavleishvili, Temiko Chichinadze, Lia Abuladze, Teo Babukhadia, Mariam Didia, Marian Gedenadze, Sopo Grigolashvili, Joni Janashia