Transcending Soviet Ecology in Post-Stalinist Georgian Cinema

• In Event: Centering the Periphery in Post-Stalinist Transcaucasian Cinema

Abstract

In the post-Stalin era, Georgian filmmakers waged an unprecedented postcolonial critique of the Soviet project and its proclaimed ambition to “transform nature” and “modernize the people in nature” (Josephson 2014, 11). I examine how these artists profoundly and imaginatively expanded representations of grapes and wine as officially sanctioned markers of Georgian “national form” to construct a national identity that fundamentally questioned and transcended the Soviet model of modernity and ecology. Instead of endorsing the Soviet ethos of “taming nature,” Giorgi Shengelaia (Alaverdoba, 1964), Otar Ioseliani (Falling Leaves, 1966), and Giorgi Danelia (Do Not Grieve! 1969), endeavored to recover their nation’s ancient viticultural practices and traditions while restoring their deep ties with both Christianity and pre-Soviet versions of modernity. In doing so they offered an alternative model of ecology and modernization that was more vibrant, sustainable, culturally informed, and rooted in native spiritual traditions.

Author

• Elena Monastireva-Ansdell, Colby College