Cinema Guild to Present Restorations of Otar Iosseliani This Summer

      No one has ever utilized images as a foundation for narrative and atmosphere quite like Otar Iosseliani, though it’s understandable if you're unaware of this. Celebrated by audiences at international festival repertories, the Georgian director has remained one of cinema's best-kept secrets. It is with a mix of joy and sadness, therefore, that this secret is about to be revealed: Cinema Guild has obtained 4K restorations of his films for theatrical and home-video launches in North America.

      We're excited to exclusively announce that they will kick off their extensive launch with "Otar Iosseliani: Fables of Modern Life," starting at New York’s Asia Society on July 24-25 and continuing at Metrograph from August 8 to 23.

      The Asia Society will showcase Iosseliani’s initial three feature films—Falling Leaves (1966), Once Upon a Time There Was a Singing Blackbird (1970), and Pastorale (1979)—while Metrograph will present them again and continue with what I believe are his most significant works: Favorites of the Moon (1984), And Then There Was Light (1989), Chasing Butterflies (1992), and Farewell, Home Sweet Home (1999), along with a selection of early shorts.

      Here’s Cinema Guild’s official synopsis of Iosseliani, complete with details for each film:

      A chronicler of tradition and a seeker of nearly lost values, Otar Iosseliani’s career has spanned his homeland of Georgia and his adopted country of France, but he has consistently been the same filmmaker throughout his extensive career: a student of Tati, Dickens, and Buñuel, a master of long takes, and a subtly humorous satirist intrigued and bemused by the diverse spectrum of humanity. He reflects on modern society's tendencies—both in the Soviet system and Western capitalism—to promote and indeed mandate conformity. Following Asia Society’s premiere of Iosseliani’s Georgian trilogy this July, Metrograph will host the most comprehensive retrospective of his work in New York in quite some time, providing a special opportunity to discover or revisit a charming and unique artist, both sensitive and incisive, with a profound sense of humor.

      **Otar Iosseliani Early Shorts Program**

      This selection features early shorts that positioned Iosseliani at the forefront of a new wave of Georgian filmmakers. The program includes Akvarel, where a feuding working-class couple finds enlightenment at an art exhibit; Sapovnela, which tells the story of an elderly man whose cherished flower gardens face destruction due to a new road; April, about a young couple whose joy diminishes despite a rise in comfort after moving to a pristine new housing development; and Tudzhi (Cast Iron), a documentary highlighting factory workers not as symbols of Soviet industrial strength, but as individuals. Akvarel (1958, 10 mins), Sapovnela (Song About a Flower) (1959, 18 mins), April (1962, 46 mins), Tudzhi (Cast Iron) (1963, 20 mins).

      **FALLING LEAVES (1966, 91 min, 4K DCP)**

      Iosseliani’s first feature, which won the FIPRESCI Award at Cannes, follows new oenologists Nico and Otar, freshly graduated from winemaking school, as they start their jobs at an agricultural cooperative in Tbilisi. They embark on their first intimate encounters with the opposite sex while being introduced to the corruption of a suffocating bureaucracy and arbitrarily set production quotas. This sharp satire of Soviet-style economic management disguises a deeply personal reflection on youth facing the realities of adult negligence and corruption. New 4K restoration of Falling Leaves commissioned by Pastorale Productions. A Cinema Guild release.

      **THERE ONCE WAS A SINGING BLACKBIRD (1971, 78 min, 4K DCP)** preceded by **GEORGIAN ANCIENT SONGS (1969, 20 min, DCP)**

      Gia (Gela Kandelaki), a timpanist at the Tbilisi Philharmonic, expertly times his arrival to work just to play his solo before rushing out to enjoy socializing and drinking with friends. This film serves as a delightful character study of an open-handed, wildly impulsive young man energized by his vibrant city. The film flows with the same spontaneous vigor as its protagonist. It screens alongside Georgian Ancient Songs, which Iosseliani describes as exploring Georgian traditional polyphony and depicting life in historical contexts. He recalled that the official response to the film was one of outrage, prompting him to safeguard a print. New 4K restoration of There Was Once a Singing Blackbird commissioned by Pastorale Productions. A Cinema Guild release.

      **PASTORALE (1975, 95 min, 4K DCP)**

      A string quartet from Tbil