Dash Café

An evening of new films in collaboration with international arts charity Firefly International and documentary film producer Elhum Shakerifar.

A screening of documentary shorts from modern Georgia, will be followed by a conversation between Elhum and Daniel Gorman (Director of Firefly International) about the documentary film-making scene, and the wider picture of modern culture in Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia.

Films include:

• 'When Clocks Stop' by Tiko Nachkebia
  A lyrical portrait of the changing face of the Georgian state television service, and its relationship with the immense political changes within the country since the channel was born.
• 'Debt' by Levan Koguashvili
  Two illegal Georgian immigrants from the former Soviet Union fight for their survival on the unforgiving streets of Brooklyn, New York. Shot entirely with a digital still photo camera, The Debt gives viewers an honest look into a private and often unacknowledged world.
• 'The April Chill' by Tornike Bziava
  On April 9th 1989, the Soviet troops violently quelled a peaceful demonstration in Tblisi. 22 innocent lives fell victim to this atrocious act. 'The April Chill' tells the story of the awakening of human instinct in a Soviet military service man, thanks to a young Georgian dancer.
• 'Waiting for Mum' by Nana Ekvtmishvili
  A humorous short documentary about sons and their mothers. The film received a Special Mention at last year's Tblisi International Film Festival.
• 'Speechless' by Salome Jashi
  An experimental short which uses an abstract, stylised approach to document the aftermath of the 2008 conflict; creating a different way for the audience to witness a tragedy it has never seen, but also offering moments of strange beauty.

Elhum Shakerifar is a documentary film maker who has produced works including Sean McAllister's THE RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARY and Saeed Taji Farouky’s feature documentary THE RUNNER. Elhum is co-director of award-winning collective Postcode Films, which facilitates projects promoting active citizenship and social inclusion. Elhum is a Research Fellow in Anthropology at Goldsmiths, and teaches documentary at the University of East Anglia and The Free University of Berlin.

The evening will also feature music from the Mazaika Duo, who use violin, accordion and voice to create an intoxicating blend of Russian folk songs, jazz, tango, Gypsy fiddle and Balkan beats.

***No advance booking is required; but to be sure of a place on the guest list, email us to let us know you're coming: corinne@dasharts.org.uk***

Firefly International is a charity working to resolve conflict worldwide: they provide arts and culture initiatives to build links between communities everywhere and to support youth, community and grassroots activities. They organise the Reel Festivals: dedicated programmes of events and performances (film, music, poetry etc) which raise awareness of areas in conflict around the world.

Dash Arts presents a new programme of Dash Cafés at Rich Mix: an artistic exploration of the countries of the former Soviet Union, with music, films, talks and discussions.

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