Georgia has selected Dito Tsintsadze’s war film Shindisi as its entry for the best international feature category (formerly foreign language film) in the 92nd Academy Awards.
The pic, based on a true story, chronicles the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 by focusing on the fate of 17 soldiers killed in a battle that took place in the small village of Shindisi. They died to enable 25 comrades to escape to safety after a Russian military unit broke a local truce.
Shot on location in the village, just a decade after the end of the brief summer war — which saw Russian armored columns come within a few miles of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi — the film was scripted by Irakli Solomanashvili. The cast includes Goga Pipinashvili, Davit Bakhtadze, Tamuna Abshilava and Marim Jibladze.
Shindisi was produced by Georgia’s 20 Steps Productions in co-production with Free Movie Studio (Georgia) and the financial support of the Georgian National Film Center. The film’s producers are Vladimir Katcharava, Edmond Minashvili and Konstantin Esadze.
Minashvili says that August remains for him “the most cold and frosty month” as it reminds him of August 2008 when he heard “about the death of my old friend, a great patriot and talented poet, Mikhail Dvalishvili, who gave his life on the battlefield of Shindisi.”
The 92nd Academy Awards are set to be held Feb. 9, 2020.
Aug. 3, 8:45 a.m. Updated to reflect that the Academy has renamed its foreign language film category.
