Street Days is a 2010 Georgian

Cinema of Georgia

The cinema of Georgia has been noted for its cinematography in Europe. One of the most acclaimed Italian film directors, Federico Fellini, was an admirer of the Georgian film:...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Levan Koguashvili. The film was selected as the Georgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

 at the 83rd Academy Awards

83rd Academy Awards

The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2010 and took place February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards ...

, but didn't make the final shortlist.

Plot

A middle-aged, unemployed heroin-addict, Checkie, loiters on the Tbilisi street outside his son's school, where he himself was once a promising student. His wife struggles to pay the tuition and understand her husband's lack of interest in the family's survival-even as the bank repossesses their furniture. But when a group of policemen blackmails Checkie into entrapping the son of his wealthy friend, husband and wife are unified by the uncertainty of their deepening moral dilemma, and a series of worsening foul-ups.

Cast

• Zura Begalishvili - Lado
• Gaga Chikhladze - Gurami
• Eka Chkheidze - Zaza's Wife
• Levan Jividze - Vaso
• Paata Khetaguri - Ero
• Dato Kinghuradze - Maca
• Giorgi Kipshidze - Jaba
• Rusiko Kobiashvili - Nini
• Zaza Kolelishvili - Sano
• Guga Kotetishvili - Chekie
• Irakli Loladze - Givi
• Nikoloz Marri - Nika
• Tamriko Melikishvili - Luiza
• Irakli Ramishvili - Ika
• Zaza Salia - Tengo
• Zura Sharia - Zaza Cheishvili
• Merab Yolbaia - Dito

Reviews

“…in the gritty, low-key realism of its strong performances, "Street" finds an absorbing mix of comic anguish and twisted hope -- especially in the devastating self-knowledge of Kotetishvili's gaze.” – Hollywood Reporter

“Georgian cinema has a new star in director Levan Koguashvili, whose superb neorealist drama, "Street Days," is just the calling card the beleaguered country needs. Stylistically and thematically reminiscent of new Romanian cinema, the pic plumbs the contentious, corrupt and crumbling social landscape of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, while following a down-at-the-heels heroin addict struggling to protect a friend's son from corrupt cops. Lensed with impressive assurance and boasting powerful perfs from a combo of established pros and non-pros, "Street Days" looks poised to lead a Georgian renaissance spearheaded by fests and advancing into the arthouse circuit.” –Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

“Levan Koguashvili’s feature debut is a well-crafted, hard-edged look at life in contemporary Tblisi which is much more refined and profound than the scenes of ethnic strife which 24-hour-news organisations loop from Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

.” –Screen Daily

“Mr. Koguashvili and his director of photography, Archil Akhvlediani, use the narrow streets and weathered buildings of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, to great pictorial effect.” –The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 

Awards

• Rotterdam International Film Festival - Tiger Award
• Edinburgh Film Festival - Rosebud Section
• goEast Film Festival - Golden Lily, Best Film
• Montreal World Film Festival
  Montreal World Film Festival
  The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
  
   - Focus on World Cinema
• European Film Festival Palic - Tolerance Award

See also

• List of submissions to the 83rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Georgian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film