CM 2021

Georgian National Film Centre

Hubert Bals Fund

Holy Electricity

წმინდა ელექტროენერგია

Pitch video

Goals at CineMart We believe our story is unique and has international potential. Our main task at this moment is to work on the universal appreciation of Holy Electricity. At CineMart we seek input on setting up an innovative marketing strategy, plan a distribution strategy and break into the international market. We are eager to have meetings with suitable international partners, such as possible European co-producers, broadcasters, distributors and sales agents. In general, as a starting Georgian production/directing team, CineMart will be a great opportunity to build a professional network.Synopsis
 The sprawling outskirts of Tbilisi, a jungle of crowded streets and squares, markets extending into rusty catacombs of scrap metal, dull residential blocks chaotically remodelled over time, spider webs of tangled up electrical wires and newly constructed churches and neon crucifixes springing up like mushrooms...At the flea market, Nika (25) bumps into his deceased father&rsquo;s friend Nodo (50) by coincidence. When it turns out that Nodo needs a roof over his head, Nika takes him to his room, which he rents from an elderly landlady. Their meeting marks the beginning of a curious business odyssey &ndash; Nika and Nodo start peddling custom handmade LED-lit neon crosses. People living behind the doors they knock on come from all walks of life: from a mother of many children to a young widow, a group of feasting or fighting men to a fortuneteller, a priest and others. Some of them are open and welcoming, asking them into their homes, while others bang the doors in their faces or kick them out.One day Nika and Nodo find themselves in the dark apartment of an impoverished pensioner. She lives without electricity, which was cut due to unpaid bills. They feel sorry for her and as an alternative source of electricity, they decide to stretch a makeshift line from a large neon cross on the church in the yard, right into her apartment. This is when the idea of holy electricity strikes them. If the main source of energy is sacred in itself, doesn&rsquo;t it make the electricity coming from it holy too? And since there are numerous neon crosses scattered across the city, holy electricity will bring colourful light into the apartments of the grey residential blocks!&nbsp;But the money isn&rsquo;t enough, at least not for Nodo, whose business goal of importing second-hand cars from Europe is far from being realised. So Nodo borrows money from Nika's landlady, who has been saving up to realise a cherished dream. When Nika finds out, he is shocked and angry; this is far beyond his morale. A fight breaks out and Nika and Nodo part ways.&nbsp;Nodo sets up an alternative business with his new acquaintance Lia, a charming widow, while Nika carries on with the cross-business together with the girl he falls in love with; a young gipsy called Mzika, who sells coffee in the streets...But how long can this absurd life, built on the shifting fundament of lies and truth, continue its existence? One day Nika and Nodo's very first, flimsy connection to holy electricity collapses and causes a short circuit. The fire spreads and everything from the cross on the church via the wires connecting holy electricity is caught up in flames.Director's Biography
 Tato Kotetishvili was born in Tbilisi in 1987. He studied Film at the Theatrical Institute in Tbilisi and continued as a cinematographer at the Polish National Film School in Lodz (PWSFTViT). He lives in Tbilisi and works as a cinematographer and director on feature films, documentaries and commercials. Tato directed and shot his own shorts&nbsp;Watermelon&nbsp;(Best Short at the 2017 Krakow International Film Festival, Best Short at the 2017 Batumi International Film Festival, Best Film at the 2017 Brno Short Film Festival, Finist&egrave;re Award, at the 2017 Brest European Short Film Festival, Paradjanov Award, Best Short&nbsp;at the 2017 Tbilisi International Film Festival) and&nbsp;Ogasavara&nbsp;(2015 IFFR, Voices section).&nbsp;

Ogasavara Films, Nushi Film

Nika and Nodo, two crusaders in contemporary Tbilisi, smell a business opportunity when giant neon crucifixes appear around town. But selling their home-sized copies door-to-door turns out less successful than thought. Adding 'holy electricity' as an extra feature seems lucrative, but becomes a threat to Nika's and Nodo's business, and friendship.