The Kartli Kingdom (2025)

Tamar Kalandadze · 104 min · Letterboxd ↗

"Kartli" refers both to Georgia’s medieval kingdom and a Tbilisi sanatorium sheltering refugees from the 1990s war in Abkhazia, meant as temporary but lasting 30 years. The crumbling building became a recreated “country”, with a farm, gardens, terraces and rooms where old VHS tapes revive memories of a lost paradise. Through Tamuna, Irma, and others, the film explores exile, trauma, and shared resilience, showing that nothing stays the same inside Kartli.

The Kartli Kingdom screens once in London: Ciné Lumière, Friday 2 October at 20:30.