Elene Naveriani

Elene NAVERIANI (1985, Georgia) is a director living in Switzerland. They graduated in Monumental Painting from the Tbilisi State Academy of Art in 2003. After a Master’s in Critical Curatorial Cybermedia at the HEAD – Geneva (Geneva School of Art and Design), they started their studies in Cinema. Their graduation short film Gospel of Anasyrma (2014) was acclaimed for its distinctive signature and stance. Elene practises a cinema of resistance: their work makes invisible stories visible, unheard voices heard and creates a space for marginalised lives.

In keeping with that sentiment, their first feature I Am Truly a Drop of Sun on Earth (2017) premiered in Rotterdam and was awarded numerous prizes (Seoul, Xining, Valladolid, Porto). Elene also directed a further two short films that received considerable acclaim. Red Ants Bite (2019) was nominated for the best Swiss short film award.

In 2021, their second feature film Wet Sand had its World Premiere in Locarno in August 2021 to glowing reviews and earned the Best Actor’s prize. 

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2023), selected for IFFR 2024, received the Hubert Bals Fund 2021.

Filmography

(selection) Breakfast with Melano (2011, short), Oranges (2012, short), Mess up with Daddy (2012, short), Father Bless Us (2013, short), Les évangiles d’Anasyrma/Gospel of Anasyrma (2014, short), Me mzis skivi var dedamicaze/I Am Truly a Drop of Sun on Earth (2017), Lantsky Papa’s Stolen Ox (2018, short doc), Red Ants Bite (2019, short), Wet Sand (2021), Shashvi shashvi makvali/Blackbird, Blackbird, Blackberry (2023)