Elene Naveriani
Still: Blackbird Blackbird BlackberryElene 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
Elene Naveriani op IFFR
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
In a small provincial town in Georgia, Etero, a 48-year-old spinster, leads her own little revolution.
100'
Zwitserland
CM 2022
I Am Truly a Drop of Sun on Earth
61'
Zwitserland
IFFR 2017
Red Ants Bite
Twee Nigeriaanse mannen, gestrand in Georgië, struinen door Tbilisi. Ze vinden troost door samen pootje te baden en hun verdriet te delen.
23'
Zwitserland
IFFR 2020
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
Een aangrijpend portret van het late seksuele ontwaken van een zelfredzame vrouw in een Georgisch dorp.
110'
Georgië
IFFR 2024