KONPHLIKTIS ZONA

Vano Burduli - After the collapse of the Soviet Union a number of territorial conflicts broke out in the Southern Caucasus between Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In one of these wars Spartak encounters Gogliko (already familiar as one of the main characters from Gaseirneba Kharabakhshi, Cottbus 2005): one a Georgian sharpshooter with the task of organising munition supplies in Azerbaijan and the other a freak from the capital Tbilisi who has, through his drug dealings, establised good contacts in Azerbaijan and currently has a few gambling debts to settle. Two disparate individuals with differing ideals collide: whilst one of them puts his life on the line as a solider, the other dances a few hundred metres away to Boney M., because in the metropolis everyone acts as if there were no war. The military campaigns of Spartak's army prove themselves to be futile however, and Gogliko's urban surroundings are gradually taken over by minor criminals. So begins a friendship between men in Georgia in Year Zero.

Vano Burduli reflects exemplarily upon the varying walks of life in a country driven by conflict. Initially forced into a partnership of convenience by the war, the protagonists ultimately find themselves party to a common destiny that offers neither a certain outcome nor any real alternatives.

KONPHLIKTIS ZONA is based on a true story and was awarded at this year's Moscow International Film Festival with the best film prize in the “Perspectives” category.