Graveyard of Dreams

Filled with idealism and grand patriotic emotions, many Georgian artists and intellectuals took part in the war against the rebellious province Abkhazia. Among them was the well-known Georgian actor Levan Abashidze. Like many of his comrades he lacked the necessary training and only had a very vague notion about this war. As a result he was destined to be a victim in this senseless battle.Graveyard of Dreams is a semi-documentary chronicle of these events, dedicated to this generation of men and artists, to the graveyard that marked the end of their dreams and their misplaced idealism. It is a remarkable film in many respects. Gyorgy Khaindrava, the director and producer, was the minister of Abkhazian Affairs at the start of the film. The 'actors' play themselves or, to be more precise, they live in this absurd game called war. The reality on which the film is based resulted in the death of some actors: the crosses in the closing titles mark the names of the participants who died in the war. An extra reason for the festival to screen this film is that the brother of the well-known Rotterdam-Georgian film-maker Tato Kotetischvili (1959-1997), who himself died last year far too young, fought in this war and died too.