Beginning (film)

Beginning (Georgian: დასაწყისი, dasats’q’isi, Dasatskisi), originally given the working title Naked Sky, is a Georgian-French drama film, directed by Déa Kulumbegashvili and released in 2020.

Beginning
Film poster
GeorgianDasatskisi
Directed byDéa Kulumbegashvili
Produced byIlan Amouyal
Rati Oneli
David Zerat
Steven Darty (co-pro)
Adrien Dassault (co-pro)
Written byDéa Kulumbegashvili
Rati Oneli
StarringIa Sukhitashvili
Rati Oneli
Music byNicolas Jaar
CinematographyArseni Khachaturan
Edited byMatthieu Taponier
Production
company
First Picture
OFA
Distributed byMUBI
Release date
  • 11 September 2020 (2020-09-11) (TIFF)
Running time
130 minutes
CountryGeorgia
France
LanguageGeorgian

The film was named as an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2020, but was not screened there due to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet it played in the Cannes 4-day event event along with three other films. The film had its actual premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2020, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. It was subsequently screened and won awards at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and holds the record for the most award in the main competition of the prestigious Spanish festival taking home Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay & and Best Actress. The film went on to win awards at the Adelaide Film Festival, and many other international festivals.

Plot

Yana, the wife of Jehovah's Witness religious leader David, becomes disillusioned with her life inside a patriarchal religious community after its Kingdom Hall is firebombed by violent extremists.[1] This event is only the starting point of the film, which focuses on Yana's interior life and emotional deterioration after David apparently does not understand what she is trying to express, and repeatedly says that something is wrong with her before going away to present himself to the elders of the church. A detective calls on Yana, ostensibly to ask questions about the fire at the church, but his questions become intrusive and personal, including about her sexual life with her husband. He asks if she feels scared and she answers "yes".

There is little dialogue overall, and the camera follows the actions of Yana and her son over the following days with slow and lingering shots, as the storyline takes an even darker turn.

Cast
  • Ia Sukhitashvili – Jana
  • Rati Oneli – David
  • Kakha Kintsurashvili - Detective
  • Saba Gogichaishvili - Giorgi

Production

The film is co-produced by Steven Darty and Adrien Dassault.

The film is produced by David Zerat, Ilan Amouyal, Rati Oneli and Paul Rozenberg.

Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas is executive producer.[1]

The film is Kulumbegashvili's first feature film as director.[2] Originally given the working title Naked Sky, the film was awarded a production grant by the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR),[3] and Kulumbegashvili was given the Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation residence in Paris and other assistance with development of the film by the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab, Sofia International Film Festival, and the Sarajevo Film Festival.[4]

Release

The film was named as an official selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, although it was not screened at that time due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.[5] It had its actual premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.[6]

It was subsequently screened at the New York Film Festival,[7] San Sebastián International Film Festival[8] and Adelaide Film Festival.[9]

Critical response

The film has drawn mostly favourable reviews from critics, with the direction compared to that of Austrian director Michael Haneke.[10]

It was very well received at the New York Film Festival, and film webzine IONCINEMA said the film was “a gruelling masterwork...reminiscent of the sleeping rage teased out in the Romanian New Wave offerings" and compared director Kulumbegashvili to Cristi Puiu and Cristian Mungiu”.[7]

Accolades
  • Adelaide Film Festival: Feature Fiction Award.[9]

The film was nominated in the "Cinema Extraordinaire" category at Bergen International Film Festival.[12]

See also

References
  1. Linden, Sheri (22 September 2020). "'Beginning': Film Review - San Sebastian 2020". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  2. "Déa Kulumbegashvili". Adelaide Film Festival. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  3. "Dea Kulumbegashvili's first feature film 'Naked Sky' awarded Rotterdam fest production grant". Agenda.ge. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  4. "Dea Kulumbegashvili". Free The Bid. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  5. Parfitt, Orlando (3 June 2020). "Cannes reveals 2020 Official Selection titles". Screen. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  6. "Toronto: Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland' Wins Audience Award". Hollywood Reporter. 20 September 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. "Final days of Adelaide Film Festival serves up more winners". InDaily. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  8. Cabeza, Elisabet (26 September 2020). "Dea Kulumbegashvili's 'Beginning' wins Golden Shell for best film at San Sebastian 2020". Screen. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  9. Ehrlich, David (30 September 2020). "Beginning Review: Dea Kulumbegashvili Delivers a Remarkable Debut". IndieWire. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  10. "Georgia selects Dea Kulumbegashvili's 'Beginning' for Oscar nomination". Trend News Agency. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  11. "Beginnings (2020): Awards". IMDb.

Further reading
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