Image+Nation
Gondola

Gondola

VEIT HELMER | GERMANY + GEORGIA | 2023 | 86 MIN | NO DIALOGUE

VEIT HELMER | GERMANY + GEORGIA | 2023 | 86 MIN | NO DIALOGUE

FeatureCOMPETITION

Presented by

Goethe Institut

Synopsis

After Nino shows Iva the ropes, the two cable car drivers woo one another in increasingly ingenious ways. Day after day, the young women pass high above a quiet Georgian valley twisted with mist, cherishing each moment of connection. But when sweetness slides into sensuality, where will it send them? A man has died, his coffin carted above the village, and Iva (Mathilde Irrmann) inherits his crooked home and high-flying occupation. At first, villagers treat her with an enigmatic disdain, and she spends her days transporting customers and goods back and forth in disquiet, stealing glances at Nino (Nini Soselia). The flirtation grows as intense as their ongoing chess game, set to the rhythm of the rusted gears and their little kindnesses. Together, they will take on a surly widow (Niara Chichinadze) and lecherous boss (Zuka Papuashvili) as their courtship reaches new heights. Auteur Veit Helmer’s Gondola has the raw intensity of silent cinema and the enchanting whimsy of Amélie. Impelled by its beguiling leads and breathtaking cinematography, the film is a love letter to the countryside and those who live there, and an invitation to let your heart soar.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Writer-director-producer Veit Helmer shot his first film at the age of 14. He studied film directing at HFF Munich. He co-wrote the feature film A Trick of Light directed by Wim Wenders, premiered in Venice 1997. His first feature film Tuvalu (1999), starring Denis Lavant, had been invited to 62 festivals, including San Sebastian, London, Chicago, Berlin and Karlovy Vary. Besides fiction films, Veit Helmer directed three documentary films. He holds lectures at film schools in Prague, Beirut, Tbilisi, Dakarta and Almaty.

Producer

Veit Helmer, Tsiako Abesadze, Noshre Chkhaidze

Writer

Veit Helmer

Cinematographer

Goga Devdariani

Cast

  • Nino Soselia
  • Mathilde Irrmann
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PARTNERS

Goethe Institut

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